After a rough stretch early in the season and falling out of the top 25, the Creighton Blue Jays found redemption after taking down top ranked Kansas. And after another win against UNLV, this Creighton squad has yet another opportunity to make things happen against a great Alabama squad.
However, the Blue Jays have had to deal with an unfortunate injury to Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs, who is now out for the season. He put up an impressive 27 points in the win and was easily their most reliable three-point shooter in that matchup. You usually need a fully loaded squad to take down a team like Alabama, but the Blue Jays must adapt.
These teams last met on December 16, 2023, with the Blue Jays holding a 3-0 record against the Crimson Tide all time. But this is still the team that took down No. 1 Kansas, so how will they take down the Crimson Tide on the road?
Win the big man battle, take Cliff Omoruyi out of the game
The Crimson Tide picked up a big-time transfer from Rutgers this past offseason; physical big man is a dynamite presence down low. He only plays 18.3 minutes per game so far, but that matchup off the bench against Ryan Kalkbrenner is one I’m looking out for in this game. He has the athleticism and shot-blocking edge over the big man from Creighton, so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
When you lose a big-time scorer at guard, you especially need to be able to run your offense through the big man. Creighton has had success with Kalkbrenner in the past couple of games, with him putting up double-digit scoring efforts against Kansas and UNLV. But going forward, they may be living and dying by how he performs.
Omoruyi has shown he can handle Big East big men in the past against Seton Hall, but Kalkbrenner is a new challenge. This is a chance for Kalkbrenner to play against an athletic shot blocker, and it will be important for him going forward to see how he handles this battle.
Mark Sears will be a problem especially without Pop Issacs
Mark Sears has been one of the best players in the entire nation this season, and is coming off a 20-point scoring night over UNC. Looking into this matchup before the season, the matchup between Issacs and Sears was going to be a marquee matchup. But without Issacs, they may have struggles against Sears.
The Blue Jays will need a big day again our of Jamiya Neal, and his scoring has been solid so far. If he can do as much as he can to match the scoring of Sears, then good things will happen for this team. Grant Nelson can also score efficiently, but slowing down one of the best guards in the nation should be the key focus here.
There is also solid depth on this Alabama team, so the need for strong guard defense does not end with Sears. Creighton has plenty of athletes at this position though, so defensively they will be fine, it is just the scoring they have to match.
Continue to shoot the three ball
Before the Kansas game, shooting was a major issue for this team. But against UNLV, this team shot 50 percent from behind the arc. Isaac Traudt knocked down five of the 10 Blue Jay threes, so this game will prove if he is a flash in the pan, or a truly reliable shooter for this unit.
Losing Issacs hurts the shooting more than anything, so they will need it from their other contributors this time around. Steven Ashworth is always reliable, but this may be the game we see someone cement themselves as the player to take the scoring load for this team.
Creighton showed they can beat anybody in the nation after beating Kansas, the question is just can they do it consistently? Alabama is arguably a tougher test than Kansas given the road environment, but a win would be a huge resume booster come tournament time.