With 10 games gone in the 2025-26 Creighton men’s basketball regular season and the daunting task of playing tough conference opponents looming, an 83-76 loss to visiting Kansas State on Dec. 13 sunk the Bluejays’ record to 5-5 on the season. This is the worst start by a Bluejay team over 10 games since the 2009-2010 4-6 start under Dana Altman.
“As I told the team — and we have a lot of new guys — that [result] doesn’t happen in our building. What transpired the first half was unacceptable. It’s embarrassing. That’s the negative,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “The positive is that I think I found five or six guys that want to fight and compete in the second half. There was no quit in that group and they got back and we had the ball with the chance to tie it giving everything else that transpired.”
Now, the Bluejays are feeling the heat heading into Big East play, meaning that every game — win or lose — must mean something to the group. They have to get better after every result, they have to translate from the practice floor to the game floor, and most importantly, they have to want it.
McDermott is still trying to figure out who on his team truly wants it, and one of his first big moves to find out who that is came against the Wildcats, as the veteran head coach traded out former starters Blake Harper, Owen Freeman and Nik Graves for Ty Davis, Austin Swartz and Isaac Traudt joining Josh Dix and Jasen Green in the starting lineup.
“We needed to try something and I think having more guys on the floor that have been here, that understand what this [Creighton] logo means, is helpful.” McDermott said “[But] we’ve got some guys that are still learning that, and it’s got to be a quick education.”
That observation showed up not just in words, but in who McDermott trusted over 40 minutes. The new starting group set the tone with effort, an overall rough half put the Bluejays in too deep a hole. Lackluster closeouts led Kansas State’s Abdi Bashir Jr. to drain five 3-pointers and score 15 points in the first half, while the Bluejays missed seven of their last eight shots heading in halftime in a 51-33 deficit. Grit and more solid, fighting play from that same starting group got the Bluejays as close as one bucket from tying it, but the time spent playing catch up didn’t bode well for the home team. The Wildcats walked away from CHI Health Center with a seven point victory over Creighton and left the Bluejays wondering what’s going to get results.
“I’m not very happy. I don’t like losing and it’s been tough, especially when we have the talent to win, we have the talent to be a really good team and we haven’t found our stride yet,” Swartz said. “ … It was good to see that we have the toughness, we can play those fifty-fifty balls, we can grab rebounds and not give up a whole bunch of offensive rebounds … but at the same time, a loss is a loss.”
With another game down and Big East play around the corner, here are three takeaways from Creighton’s first home loss of the season to the Wildcats.
#1 – Just a little too late: drastically weaker first half basketball set up the Bluejays to play a nearly impossible game of catchup. They showed fight, yes, but that fight couldn’t get the victory.
Basketball is a game of runs. It’s expected that each team will have its fair share throughout 40 minutes. But the game-within-a-game — and the strategy that wins these contests — is that when your opponent inevitably goes on a run, the defense adjusts and stops the bleeding.
Midway through the first half, though, despite weathering a barrage of three pointers from the Wildcat offense and even taking the lead, 23-21 with 9:46 remaining, Creighton’s defense collapsed. Thus, it was no longer the back-and-forth game of runs, but the game of one run from Kansas State through the rest of the half.
Just under six minutes left in the first half marked the last time Creighton would see a single digit deficit for the rest of the half..
Creighton scored just once in five minutes, heading into halftime facing an 18-point deficit. But more than that, they faced a complete breakdown in grit.
“There was a lack of grit in the first half and it showed,” Traudt said. “We were able to get back into the game in the second half, but we dug a pretty big hole in the first half.”
Creighton’s grit — along with the new starters — came at a much more consistent pace in the second half, even getting the game within one basket with two minutes remaining. However, a missed triple from Dix — who ended the night with a tied-team high of 18 points — kept the Bluejays from finding their way back completely.
“[We got back into the game because we played] tougher. We got the fifty-fifty balls that we weren’t getting in the first half in the second half and there’s no reason why we can’t do that at the start of the game and throughout the whole first half and the whole game,” Swartz said. “That just shows that we have it in us, and we just … have to do it every single time. If we do that, we’ll be in way better shape.”
Swartz nailed the moral of the story right on the head. Creighton’s second half performance demonstrated what it’s capable of on both ends of the floor: ball movement was much improved and guys were playing unselfishly and hustling every play. The problem was that 20 minutes of solid play is not going to cut it in a 40 minute game.
Yes, shooting 46.88% from the floor and 41.18% from three is a great jump from shooting in the low 30% range in the first half, but when the mistakes mount in the first half, a second half comeback is that much harder.
#2 – Translating work on the practice floor to the game floor: against Kansas State, Creighton’s lack of successful closeouts was detrimental.
The age-old saying ‘defense fuels offense’ is timeless for a reason. Solid defensive stands lead to better opportunities on offense.
That means that on every defensive possession, the fundamentals need to be tight. Or, as McDermott has said before — a sentiment echoed by Traudt — work on the practice floor has to translate to the game floor.
Traudt said the team worked consistently on closeouts during practice leading up to the Kansas State matchup, but you wouldn’t know it from Creighton’s first half performance.
“A couple closeouts … just didn’t make them [Kansas State] feel uncomfortable enough,” McDermott said. “The closeout is supposed to stop the shot. Our guys were there and didn’t have much impact on the shot.”
Whether it was a miscommunication that left a shooter open, a trap-gone-wrong that left Bashir Jr. wide open for the triple, or a shot from beyond that arc executed by five different Wildcats throughout the half, the closeouts were not impacting the shooter like they needed to be.
In the first half, Kansas State shot 64.71% from three (11-17) and five of those came from Bashir Jr.
“[Those closeouts] have to be able to translate to the game if we want to get to where we want to go and where we can go … we need to be more dialed in on that aspect in practice and then just compete harder,” Traudt said.
Closeouts might have been the problem against Kansas State, but the team’s — and some individual players’ — inability to translate practice play to the game has harmed the Bluejays on more than one occasion. Whether it’s defensive communication, rebounding or, in this case, closeouts, Creighton needs to figure out a way to make practice time stick when it’s showtime.
#3- Creighton’s new starting five showed something new.
Another loss might have been added to the Bluejays’ 2025-26 record, but one of the positives from the Kansas State game came in the form of the new starting lineup. Seldom this season have fans seen a Creighton group on the floor that has truly gelled together, but the combination of Traudt, Dix, Davis, Green and Swartz on Dec. 13 seemed to trend in that direction — a hopeful sign for McDermott and the Bluejay faithful.
Each of these players brings something distinct to the lineup — and their impact showed up in different ways throughout the night.
Davis, Swartz, Traudt: scout team to starting five
Every one of these players was on the scout team not even three weeks ago. That means that their presence in the starting lineup brings a growing confidence mixed with a ‘head down’ mentality that is critical in a new team. Each understands the opportunity he has been given to make an impact on the floor, and Kansas State showed how ready each is to leave it all on the floor.
“[While playing on the scout team], none of them pouted, none of them complained, they just embraced what I was asking them to do. It’s amazing how the game will pay you back for that,” McDermott said of the trio.
Swartz had a great game against Nebraska — arguably the only Bluejay who could say that offensively — and his hard work gave him a shot to start the game at home. Davis and Traudt aren’t new to McDermott’s expectations or style, and their commitment to the journey put them in a position where their head coach trusted them enough to add to the starting lineup.
It’s this healthy dose of hard work, growing confidence and devotion to every play that makes these three feel like a smart move for McDermott to put on the floor first.
Davis: the unselfish, hustle player and blossoming leader
When Davis goes out on the floor, there is no doubt he’s going to play his heart out on every play. He won’t give up on a possession, he isn’t afraid to get physical and he’s not going to play for himself. The fans see it, McDermott saw it enough to give him a spot in the starting lineup, and his teammates certainly see it too.
“[Davis is] extremely unselfish. He’s always trying to make plays for others. He competes as hard as he can every single play and that’s just the type of guy he is,” Traudt said. “His voice has been great. He’s been a great leader to us.”
Davis knows what it takes to make it in McDermott’s system, having grown and learned under the wing of Steven Ashworth and a veteran roster. His energy, leadership and dedication make him an asset to this starting five.
Dix: seasoned playmaker on both sides
Dix might be new to the Creighton system, but he’s played like every bit the playmaker that Creighton needs. The senior guard from Iowa leads the team with an average 12.3 points per game, while also being McDermott’s most trusted defender.
Defensively, the Iowa transfer was left in charge of PJ Haggerty against Kansas State — limiting the nation’s leading scorer to just 10 points on 4-of-12 from the field — and Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort last week — keeping the forward to just seven shot attempts and 12 points — demonstrating his defensive prowess on a Creighton team that has struggled to be a defensive threat all season.
“Josh has been terrific. To be honest, I’m asking him to do too much,” McDermott said. “We need him to be a guy that shoots 12 to 16, 17 shots a game, but that’s a lot to ask when you’re chasing around the other team’s best player. But right now, the gap between what he’s able to do defensively and the next guy, it’s too large to take him off the floor for very long.”
Overall, it seems that whatever McDermott has asked of Dix, he has executed, making him critical to efficiency in this starting five for the Bluejays.
Davis, Green and Traudt: well-versed in the heart of Creighton basketball
At the end of the day, a successful team is built on people who play for the name on the front of the jersey more than the name on the back. With such a new roster this season, very few fully understand just how much this mentality means to McDermott and the Creighton program. That’s why having three players who have been around long enough to see how this mentality manifests itself on the court is so critical to Creighton’s identity this season — and their success.
Davis, Green and Traudt have all seen the way that players like Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner carried themselves, serving as models for what Creighton basketball is.
“When you’re struggling, it’s easy to point the finger and blame somebody else. I think this program means a lot to them [Davis, Green and Traudt], and I’m not sure that any of the guys that have transferred here in the past, after being here three or four months, the program means to you what it does after you’ve been here for a while,” McDermott said.
That connection to the program is exactly what McDermott is searching for — and he doesn’t have to look far to find it. In these players — along with junior Fedor Zugic — Creighton has pieces of the glue for a new identity, one shaped by new talent but grounded in the same values that have long defined being a Bluejay.
Overall, the Kansas State loss at home stings. Becoming a consistent 40-minute team and translating practice floor fundamentals to the game are critical problems in need of solving. However, the game also showed what Creighton can be with the right people leading the team. No, this new starting five won’t solve all of the Bluejays’ woes right away, but it does bring some hope for games to come, if McDermott decides to stick with it.
Now, the Bluejays hope they can clean up enough to get back in the win column on the road against Xavier on Dec. 17.