Creighton’s Senior Day lived up to its name, as guard Baylor Scheierman and center Ryan Kalkbrenner led the No. 12 Bluejays past the No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles for a 89-75 victory in Creighton’s final home game of the season.
Marquette was short senior guard Tyler Kolek and senior forward Oso Ighodaro, its top two players, due to an injury and an illness, respectively.
The senior duo of Scheierman and Kalkbrenner got started early on, combining to score the first 12 points for the Bluejays on the day, scoring six points apiece in the first six minutes of the game. Marquette was able to keep things close early, but the Jays began to pull away in the first half as the rest of Creighton’s offense began to click.
The Jays took one of their largest leads of the half at 28-21 on a solo 6-0 run by guard Trey Alexander. The junior forced a timeout from Marquette head coach Shaka Smart by tapping a steal down the court, running down the loose ball, and pulling up for a three as soon as he had possession. A Kalkbrenner layup later extended that lead to eight, but a 6-0 Marquette run to end the half closed the gap to 42-40 in favor of the Jays headed into the locker room.
Junior guard Kam Jones led the Golden Eagles in the first half, taking advantage of his speed and athleticism to get downhill on the Bluejay defense, which was more spread out than usual without Ighodaro in the lineup. Jones put up 15 points in the first on 6/9 shooting. For Creighton, the first half offense was composed of a balanced attack from Kalkbrenner, Alexander and Scheierman, all of whom scored double-digit points before halftime.
The second half was all Creighton, as the Jays never trailed after halftime. Junior Marquette forward David Joplin tried to keep the game close, as he put up 14 points in the second half, but a flurry of shots from Creighton’s veterans slammed the door late. Senior guard Francisco Farabello hit a corner three to give Creighton an 8-point lead before Farabello’s roommate Scheierman hit another three in the opposite corner on the Bluejays’ next possession.
This set up Scheierman to hit the dagger, as he launched another corner three, turning around to the Bluejay fans behind him as soon as the ball left his hand, saying “I don’t even gotta look” to the crowd as he ran back up the court and the ball swished through the nylon, giving Creighton a decisive 12-point lead.
Marquette didn’t have the time or firepower to catch up from there, and Kalkbrenner added the exclamation point to the victory as he threw down a powerful dunk to close the Omaha chapter of the Bluejays’ season with a 14-point victory.
Following the game, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott described the experience of coaching this unit of Bluejays as the regular season drew near to its end.
“Happiness is fleeting,” he said. “Happiness is based on something that happens, usually in your life, but joy is about what you do every day and the people you do it with, and this has been a joyful group to coach.”
Scheierman and Alexander both had double-doubles in the game. Scheierman picked his up by scoring 26 points while picking up 16 rebounds, the most rebounds he’s had in a Bluejay uniform, while Alexander combined 18 points with a career-high 11 assists in the victory. Kalkbenner and Farabello,
both seniors, also had big days, as Kalkbrenner scored 19 and Farabello scored 12. Farabello’s came on perfect efficiency as the TCU transfer went 5/5 from the field.
The win was the final game in Omaha for both Scheierman and Farabello, who transferred in together ahead of the 2022-2023 season and have lived together for the past two years.
“I just can’t even put into words what he means to me,” Scheierman said of Farabello. “I have a younger brother, but now it feels like I have a brother that’s my age as well. Everything we’ve been through, the late night talks at our apartment, late night Chipotle runs, those are the memories, and he’s going to be a part of my family forever.”
The game also was potentially the final home game in a Bluejay uniform for Kalkbrenner and Alexander, who both have one year of eligibility remaining and are expected to test the waters of the NBA draft once again before making decisions about returning to Creighton for another season.
“We haven’t had a bad practice because those four have not allowed it to happen, along with [senior guard Steven Ashworth],” McDermott said. “That’s true leadership, because a lot of times the coaches have to fix that and it’s way more impactful when the team can fix that.”
The victory guaranteed Creighton a top three seed in next week’s Big East Tournament and closed the gap to just half a game on the No. 2 Golden Eagles, who still have to play top-seeded UConn before the regular season comes to a close.
The Bluejays will close their regular season on March 9 as they travel to Philadelphia to try to avenge their loss to the Villanova Wildcats, who knocked off Creighton in the first Big East matchup of the season, before heading to New York for the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. The tournament will begin on March 13, but Creighton has guaranteed itself a first-round bye and will play its first game on March 14.