Creighton Basketball: Should there be any concerns after Colorado State loss?

Ahead of a future tough slate of games in December, should there be any concerns about Creighton Basketball after a recent tough loss to Colorado State?

Uh-oh, should the Blue Jays be worried? Hopefully, everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving, because the Creighton Basketball certainly did not.  The Blue Jays have looked great all season however, their competition has been subpar at best.  They were moving on up in the Hall of Fame Classic until they ran into Colorado St.

The game was over before the first half ended.  The rims must have had a grievance against the Blue Jays because just about every shot bounced around the rim and refused to go in.  Colorado St. could not miss making tough fade-away shots every time down the court.  The Rams SMOTHERED the Blue Jays on defense, locking up Trey Alexander.  Trey Alexander started the season off as Big East Player of the Year candidate, but as of late, he has been locked up.

Over the last two games, Trey Alexander has been on the struggle bus.  Not sure if the beginning of the season was a fluke for him or if other teams have figured out the game plan and decided to focus on guarding Trey.  These past two games Trey has shot a combined 4-26 field goal attempts, 5.5PPG, 5 RPG, 1 APG, and 1-8 from three-point land.  Trey’s ability to get out of this rut will be a huge factor in the Blue Jays season.

Ashworth has also had a tough start to the season averaging 8.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 3.5 APG.  Not the worst stat line considering the talent he has around him, but nothing compared to his stats from Utah State.  Last year for Utah State, Ashworth averaged 16.2 PPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.3 RPG.  On the bright side, he is still shooting over 40% from three.  I am not majorly concerned with Ashworth considering he has only played six games with his new team.  He will continue to gain chemistry and get his feel for the game as the season goes on.

Baylor Scheierman and Ryan Kalkbrenner have been everything Creighton fans had hoped he would be returning for their final season to finish what they started.  Baylor has been better than he was last year shooting 40% from three (36.4% last season), averaging 18.2 PPG (12.8 last season), while his rebounds and assist averages have been similar.  Ryan Kalkbrenner’s stats are just about the same which is exactly what Creighton had hoped.  Those just need to keep on keeping on while the others get back into their groove.

The rest of the team is doing what was expected and the season is dependent on the four players stated above.  Although the loss is a tad concerning, I believe it was a good loss to get out of the way so the team can improve/work on different game plans when they play against suffocating defenses.  That game was also not that the Blue Jays looked awful, they just could not get the bounces on the rim.  Coach Greg McDermott and the team should look at this loss as a blessing in disguise.  It’s better to face adversity earlier in the season rather than later so they can work out the kinks and find their groove before the tournament.

They are in debatably the toughest conference in basketball so they will need to get on the same page and be ready for when they play their conference, especially UConn, Marquette, Villanova, and Providence.  That will be a tough conference to win so the Blue Jays have their work cut out for them.  They have the players to do it, we will just see how they mesh come that time because UConn and Marquette are certainly not slowing down anytime soon.

Thursday, 11/30 the Jays travel to the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 8PM C/T.  This will be a perfect bounce back game for the Jays to see how they come back from their loss.

Who do you think will win the Big East this season, and is the Big East the new ACC for college basketball?