On Friday, the Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball team took on the then-No. 8 Marquette Golden Eagles in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Fiserv Forum. The Jays were looking to continue their success in the Big East after the thrilling one-point win against St. John’s on New Year’s Eve.
In the 100th meeting between the teams, Creighton got off to a hot start.A three from freshman Jackson McAndrew and a couple of free throws from senior Jamiya Neal built the Jays a 7-0 lead to open the first half.
“Creighton has a unique lineup,” Marquette Head Coach Shaka Smart said. “They’ve got Jackson McAndrew who’s a very, very good player at 6’10 playing the three spot. They just have a big lineup.”
The Bluejays stayed in front for majority of the first half, but Marquette’sStevie Mitchell tested the Creighton defense with 18 points on the night. A three pointer by Mitchell with nine minutes to play in the first half gave the Golden Eagles momentum and the lead at 18-20
“He’s just got this energy that’s unique to him and nobody else has, particularly when he’s kind of in that Stevie mode that is super human, and he covers so much ground both on the ball and off the ball,” Smart said on Mitchell.
But the Jays quieted the crowd with a dunk by junior Fred King to tie it up 27-27, and it was all CU for the next 4 minutes, with a three from senior Steven Ashworth, Creighton increased their lead to 35-27.
“It was a really good college basketball game,” Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott said. “I told the team ‘I’m proud of the way we responded.’”
The Golden Eagles, fired up after a timeout really turned it on going into halftime, fueling a 11-0 run and causing numerous Creighton turnovers. Marquette’s Kam Jones excited the crowd with a layup to give MU a 35-37 lead.
“We all want him to have the ball down the stretch,” Mitchell said, “and I mean he’s going to be Kam regardless.”
At the half, Marquette led by four, and they continued this success going into the second half.
“We really lost the game the last four minutes in the first half and the first four minutes in the second, some mistakes and some breakdowns,” McDermott said.
With 15 minutes to play, the Golden Eagles led by as many as 12, but Creighton started to find their footing again. Two baskets in a row for Neal cut the lead to 8 at 48-56.
Marquette was able to stop senior Ryan Kalkbrenner, one of Creighton’s leading scorers holding him to just 4 for 11 on field goal attempts.However, Kalkbrenner did grab his 2000th career point at Creighton, becoming just the fourth player in Creighton history to do so.
“They [Marquette] are very difficult for us to guard, they take our strength in Kalkbrenner away from the basket because of their 5 out,” McDermott said.
The Jays hungwith Marquette as the clock ran down, but a three pointer from senior David Joplin of Marquette with 35 seconds left to play sealed the deal, stretching the Golden Eagles’ lead to 8.
Missed shots from beyond the arcplagued the Bluejays in the second half, as the Marquette defense held Creighton to just a 22.6% rate on the game. Ashworth missed his twelfth three-point basket of the night just before the buzzer rang, earning Marquette the 71-79 win.
“[I’m] proud of our team,” McDermott said.“We lost to a really good basketball team. I think we got better, and I think we grew a little bit tonight as a group. Hopefully we can use this as we get ready for Butler in a week or so.”
The Bluejays will next play at Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday, January 11th. Tip is set for 11 a.m.