Winning streaks are often hard to come by and are even harder to maintain. Despite this, the Creighton basketball team now finds themselves with a four-game win streak after defeating the Butler Bulldogs 89-85. This gave the Bluejays a 3-0 start in Big East play and a 9-5 record overall.
“It’s good to see the guys smile,” head coach Greg McDermott said. “You work and preach winning habits, but when you don’t win, it gets difficult. However, when you are winning and have a chance to see the fruits of your labor, I think it motivates them to work a little bit harder.”
The Bluejays were able to gain an advantage early. After Butler hit the first basket to gain their only lead of the game, the Bluejays responded with a 12-0 run. This gave Creighton a 12-2 lead, highlighted by back-to-back threes from sophomore Austin Swartz and senior Josh Dix.
“[Josh Dix] is doing so much for us, and he’s impacting winning in a lot of ways, probably more ways than he’s ever impacted winning,” McDermott said. “He’s finding shots within the flow of our offense, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
In the next few minutes, offensive rebounding became the story for the Bulldogs. They had five offensive rebounds in a four-minute span, where they cut the Bluejay lead to 19-14. The Bulldogs would end the first half with twelve offensive rebounds.
“You just have to keep going, and we preach the next play all the time, and an offensive rebound is the next play,” McDermott said. “It’s the start of a new defensive possession, and we have to get ready. I was impressed with Butler on film; I was more impressed with them in person. That’s a team that is going to win a lot of games.”
“It showed a lot about us,” junior Jasen Green said. “We knew coming into the game that they were a great offensive rebounding team, and they probably got more than we wanted them to. They are a top 20 rebounding team in the country, and for us to get the win, giving up that many offensive rebounds is really good.”
Leading up to the five-minute mark in the first, the Bulldogs continued to chip away at the Bluejay lead. They brought the game all the way to within a single point, trailing 31-30 with five minutes remaining in the half. However, a three-pointer from Swartz jump-started a 14-3 run for the Bluejays, gaining a 44-33 lead. The Bluejays hit three three-pointers during this run, including a three-pointer from junior Isaac Traudt that brought the lead to 11. This gave the Bluejays momentum heading into the second half with a 44-35 lead.
The Bluejays maintained their nine-point lead in the first four minutes of the second half, with both Swartz and Green hitting a three to start the second half. The Bluejays held a 54-45 lead going into the first media timeout of the second half.
However, the Bulldogs were once again able to close the gap. With nine minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs had cut the Bluejay lead down to 65-62. However, the Bluejays responded with a four-point play from senior Nik Graves.
“I had already hit a three earlier in the second half, and I knew they were going to step out a little bit,” Green said. “I had Nik on my right, so I knew that his man was going to come over. So, I gave him the ball, and he shot it. Thankfully, he got the three and the one free throw.”
Following the four-point play, the Bluejays were able to build on their lead and held the momentum going into the final few minutes of the game. With three minutes remaining in the game, the Bluejays held an 82-71 lead over the Bulldogs.
Points were hard to find for both teams in the next few minutes of the game. The Bluejays held an 83-76 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the game. After a timeout, the Bulldogs cut the lead to four points on a quick three-pointer. After the Bluejays hit two free throws, Butler responded with another three-pointer to cut the deficit to 85-82. This trend continued as the Bulldogs hit another three-pointer after another pair of free throws from the Jays. This meant the Bulldogs trailed just 87-85 with 11 seconds remaining in the game. A pair of free throws from Graves closed out the game as the Bluejays were able to capture an 89-85 win.
“You never know when crazy stuff is going to happen at the end of a game,” McDermott said. “They hit three incredibly difficult shots at the end, and that is why we practice our free throws at the end of every practice…We were really good down the stretch from the free throw line, and that wound up being the difference in the game.”
In addition to a closely fought game, the other story from the game was a career performance from Jasen Green. He ended the game with a career high 23 points and added 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
“I was impressed with how hard he played,” Graves said. “Obviously, he had a real big task guarding [Michael Ajayi]…He did his job on the defensive end tonight, and that is a big reason why the points showed up as well.”
“This is a really big thanks to my teammates and my coaches for putting trust in me, but it’s a great experience,” Green said. “I didn’t really look at the scoreboard at all during the game, so I didn’t really know how many points I had until the game was over. I just played as hard as I could and ended up with a lot of points, so it’s pretty awesome.”
The Bluejays now find themselves sitting atop the Big East standings with a 3-0 conference record. They return to action on the road this Sunday when they travel to New Jersey for a showdown with Seton Hall. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. and will be airing on Peacock.