Creighton vs Akron: 3 keys to 2024 NCAA Tournament 1st-round matchup

Does Akron have a shot to beat Creighton in the 3 vs 14 matchup on Thursday? Check out the biggest keys overall to this game.

TV schedule: Thursday, March 21st, 1:30 pm ET. truTV
Arena: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

One of the first matchups to start out the NCAA Tournament on Thursday is Creighton (23-9) taking on Akron (24-10), a 3 vs 14 battle. The Bluejays were consistently a top-20 team all season and a Big East contender. Meanwhile, the Zips were one of the best teams in the MAC once again but needed some help in the conference tournament title game to get to this point.

Do the Zips have a chance to pull off a major upset? They may have the pieces to do so. Here are some keys to the matchup.

1. Creighton's defense on Enrique Freeman

The star of Akron Basketball is Freeman, a 6'7 and 250-pound big man. He's the reigning MAC Player of the Year, coming off averaging 18.6 ppg and 12.9 rpg, which leads the nation. He's a former Conference Defensive Player of the Year as well, showing his two-way stardom. Freeman is consistent as well, including in double figures every single game and having 10+ rebounds in all but four.

He and 6'8 forward Sammy Hunter play the 4/5 spots but Creighton has one of the best interior defenders in the country in Ryan Kalkbrenner, the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. And with Freeman mainly operating inside (just 46 three-point attempts) the 7'0 Creighton big should have the advantage. But we've seen bigs have good games against him as well. Freeman will have to add to it to have a shot at the upset.

2. Play of Steven Ashworth

Creighton has a trio of stars averaging 17+ ppg on the season in Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander, and Baylor Scheierman. When all three are playing well, the Bluejays are hard to beat. When all three and senior guard Ashworth are playing well, they're title contenders. But Ashworth, the transfer from Utah State, has been inconsistent at times, especially in the first half of the season.

To his credit, Ashworth had an 11-game stretch of double-digit scoring, including 26 points and four assists in a loss to Butler. He had 10 or fewer in 4 of the last 5 games though, with the team loisng two of them. For Akron to have a shot in this game, they'll need a poor performance from him.

3. 3rd scoring option for Akron

The two stars for the Zips are Freeman and Ali Ali, a 6'8 wing who averages 15.6 ppg and 2.8 apg. The only other double-digit scorer on the roster is 6'1 guard Greg Trimble, who puts up 10.5 ppg. He only scored 17 points combined in the three MAC Tournament games but they still found a way to win.

That probably won't work against Creighton, one of the best-scoring offenses in the country. Sammy Hunter is the only other rotation piece that puts up more than seven points a game. Yes, Akron is a defensive team but they're going to need to find some points somewhere, especially if Kalkbrenner limits Freeman too much.