The Creighton men’s basketball team has been practicing for a month. Fans got their first glimpse of the newcomers at Bluejay Madness on October 17. The team tested itself against Iowa in a closed scrimmage on October 26. However, Friday’s exhibition game marked the official start to basketball season for the Bluejays and their fans.
Creighton took the court at CenturyLink Center Omaha for the first time this season and dispatched Division II Sioux Falls 91-72 in front of an exhibition game record 16,317 fans.
Ball movement and 3-point shooting made Creighton one of the best offensive teams in college basketball a season ago, and Friday showed that selfless and free-flowing style of play is here to stay. Creighton assisted on 21 of its 28 field goals, shot 14-31 from 3-point range and only turned the ball over 11 times. Despite new players and returning players in new roles, the chemistry is still strong.
“These guys, there are a lot of them that have played important roles for our team in the past, and we’ve always shared the basketball, so that’s not going to change,” coach Greg McDermott said. “We have a lot of willing passers … You have a number of guys that are making right decisions for their teammates, and I don’t think that’s going to change … they understand that they have to play for each other if we’re going to be successful.
“There are going to be some peaks and valleys this season until we can settle on really identifying roles for sure.”
The first four possessions set the tone for the game, as Creighton scored on each of them. Redshirt freshman forward Toby Hegner buried a 3-pointer on a pick-and-pop to kick things off. Senior point guard Austin Chatman drilled a 3-pointer of his own on the next possession following an offensive rebound and kick-out by senior forward Rick Kreklow. Senior guard Devin Brooks took it all the way to the basket himself on the third possession, and Hegner hit another triple on the fourth. Two-and-a-half minutes in, the Jays lead 11-5 and already had three assists and three 3-pointers.
The Jays continued to fire away from deep and pulled away with a 14-2 run. By the end of the half, the lead had grown to 20 at 50-30, and the Jays shot 11 of 20 from deep. The Jays lost 80.1 percent of their made 3-pointers from last year to graduation, but there are plenty of shooters left on the roster.
“[Seeing those shots go in] helps a lot,” redshirt junior guard James Milliken said. “A lot of guys put in the effort and gets shots up every day in practice and after practice. It just helps us to feel comfortable kicking it out, making that one extra pass to one of our teammates, trusting him to make the shot.”
The Jays opened the second half just like the first – with a 3-pointer. The lead reached as much as 27 points midway through the quarter before Creighton took its foot off the gas and allowed Sioux Falls to get the deficit back under 20 – understandable, but still somewhat disappointing for McDermott.
The loudest ovation of the night came in the final minute, as manager-turned-walk-on Gabriel Connealy checked in and hit a short jumper with just under 30 seconds to go.
“It’s a great story. He’s an unbelievable kid, awesome kid,” McDermott said. “To be a student manager for three years and have the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing college basketball and to get into a game and have his name called by making a basket is pretty cool stuff … Everybody on the team was thrilled for him because he’s been so selfless with his contributions to this program for three years as a manager, and now to be able to go out there and enjoy his moment was pretty cool.”
All four rotation guards reached double figures, with Devin Brooks leading the way. The senior from Harlem, the team’s second leading returning scorer, showed off his improved jumper and finished with 18 points on 6-10 shooting, a game-high eight rebounds and four assists.
Brooks’ backcourt mate Chatman also had 18 points and four assists, got to the line a game-high eight times (making six) and grabbed five rebounds.
James Milliken and Isaiah Zierden each finished with 11 points off the bench. Zierden missed the final seven games of the 2013-14 season with a dislocated knee, but is back to 100 percent. Milliken redshirted last season after transferring to Creighton from Cowley Community College.
“I was kind of nervous at first when the game started, but I felt like the starters just set a great tone, and made it feel comfortable when we came out,” Milliken said. “Isaiah and I came off the bench and I felt like we fit right in whenever the starters came out.”
On the other end of the court, Charles Ward posted a game-high 30 points and shot 6 of 8 from deep for Sioux Falls.
“Ward was a load,” McDermott said. “We knew he could go to the basket. We knew he could post some. We wanted to try to keep him off the free-throw line which I felt we did, but he got started at the 3-point line and we weren’t able to put that fire out. That’s where we miss Avery Dingman right now [out with a sprained ankle], because he’s the guy that probably would not have allowed that to happen.”
Senior center Will Artino, who had 2 points, seven rebounds and a block in 12 minutes, broke his nose during the game. He was a full participant in practice on Saturday, however.
The game does not officially count towards the team’s record, but that does not mean the result holds no value.
“Every game we play is important,” Brooks said. “Every game we play is a way to know what we need to improve on.”
Brooks identified communication in particular as an area the team will have to improve upon from this game to the season opener on Nov. 14, when the Jays welcome Central Arkansas to the CenturyLink Center. Tip-off is set for 8:01 p.m. and the game will be shown on Fox Sports 1.