The Creighton Bluejays will bring a 15-5 (5-3) record to Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday when they face the Drake Bulldogs, 13-7 (4-4) for a 1:05 tip-off.
The Jays are coming off one of their more impressive wins of the season by beating Evansville on the road by a score of 79-57. Forwards Casey Harriman and Justin Carter, along with center Kenny Lawson, all recorded career highs in points with 11, 14 and 16 points respectively, on a night when Creighton’s three leading scorers of the season totaled only 20 points.
So far this season the Jays are 9-1 at home, while the Bulldogs are only 2-3 on the road. However, Drake brings two very skilled scorers in guard Josh Young and forward Jonathan Cox into Saturday’s game. Creighton men’s basketball Coach Dana Altman believes stopping those two may be the key to winning the game, “They have some young men that can really shoot it (Cox and Young), we got to locate them, make sure they don’t get any easy baskets.” Altman said.
In addition to having dangerous scorers, Drake will also play a 2-3 zone defense, which the Jays have not seen much of this year. Altman admitted that it takes a little more time to get prepared for a zone defense.
Creighton will once again be without the services of senior forward Chad Millard who has provided much needed depth at the power forward and center position. “He was back up at 4 and 5 and he gave us versatility there. It is a concern when Kenton (Walker), Kenny (Lawson), Justin (Carter) or Casey (Harriman) gets in foul trouble” Altman said.
Senior sharp-shooter Booker Woodfox is also still bothered by an ankle problem Altman said. Woodfox did not practice on Thursday, and may practice lightly on Friday; however he is expected to play on Saturday.
A bright spot for the Jays has surfaced in the play of junior college transfer Justin Carter. Carter, who struggled to find his shot earlier in the season, has increased both his field goal and three point percentages in conference play.
Senior guard Josh Dotzler feels early season struggles are common in first year junior college transfers “When a player comes from a (junior college) it takes a second for them to get a feel for the system, and what the coaches are looking for. He is getting comfortable, and is starting to do the things we know he can.” Dotzler said.
The Jays currently sit in third place in the Missouri Valley and can not afford to lose many more games if they hope to reach one of their team goals, which is to win the regular season title. The team’s other goals include winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and winning games in the NCAA tournament.
Redshirt sophomore Casey Harriman still feels these goals are accomplishable. “We have to just play hard. If we all play hard and play team basketball for the rest of the season, our goals are very tangible,” Harriman said.