On the rebound...
After the heartbreaking loss to the Salukis at home last Saturday, the Jays faced a slate including a difficult road test against a Missouri State team needing to right the ship and a home date with an Indiana State team against which CU let slip away one of the most promising opportunities for a Valley road victory. Probably the biggest question going into this stretch was the mindset of the team: would the strain of the close losses to Wichita State and Southern Illinois shake the confidence of the Jays or would we see a Creighton team with a renewed commitment to success?
Against the Bears on Wednesday night, we saw the Jays answer each time that Missouri State looked to create some separation. MSU led most of the first half, but CU kept them within an arm's length and, bam, Nick Bahe gets the breakaway basket with the foul and the Jays end the first half with a two point lead. In the second half, the Jays were able to stake the early lead with a personal run by Nate Funk starting with a jumper to give CU the lead in the second half with under 12 minutes left. The Bears split a pair of free throws after a Manny Gakou foul, but then Funk came right down with a three. Blake Ahearn made two free throws after a Josh Dotzler foul, but then another three by Funk. MSU was able to get two more free throws after being fouled after getting a steal, but back down the court Funk made the layup... but, got the free throw to complete the old fashion three point play. This is a perfect example of the sort of play we have been fortunate enough to get out of the senior MVP candidate. Not only will Nate put up the numbers you want, but he can literally put the team on his back and will them to success as he did here on Wednesday.
The Bears weren't going to go down that easily. They chipped away over several minutes and topped it off with an absolute bomb of a three from Ahearn to retake the lead. However, next trip down the floor, Nick Porter nails the three from the wing and the Jays retake control. Nick's line on the night has one glaring flaw that traditionalists will crinkle their nose at---six turnovers--but there is no question that we do not win in Springfield without the contributions of the man from Compton. Nick not only put up the points, but like Nate, carried this team offensively for stretches of the game. Nick has a tendency to get a lot of grief because he can follow up an awesome cut to the basket with a silly turnover the next trip down, but make no question he has been just as critical during this stretch as Nate and Anthony.
Now, we arrive at Anthony Tolliver. Much was made before the game about this being Anthony's last trip home to Springfield and the fact that he had yet to get a win in the Hammons Center during his career at Creighton. The A-Train was able to put together another great game: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks. Also, you could tell the passion and the drive that Anthony had to finally finish this off and get that specter of the hometown team put away. Kudos to both Anthony and the coaching staff in keeping that energy channeled positively.
The Jays were able to seal the deal and weather the late MSU fury to close with a 66-62 win. This put the Jays back on track and kept us in a first place tie with the Salukis. Coming into Saturday afternoon's tilt with Indiana State, they theme of the day was to stay consistent and avoid any letdowns. With the 55-52 loss to the Sycamores in Terre Haute, as well as the first home game after an equally disappointing one point loss to SIU, ISU was guaranteed to have the Jays full attention.
The afternoon on Sunday belonged to the young man from Sioux City again. With 20 points, Nate Funk was able to join the top 10 in all-time Creighton scoring, passing John C. Johnson with his career 1,527 points. Not unlike the game against Missouri State, Nate was able to carry the load personally and with his 5-6 shooting in the first half, kept the Jays on pace offensively as the ground down the Sycamores over the long haul.
Two things really stood out from the game, however. First was the strong effort by Dane Watts. Watts has been able to adjust well to his position as a key role player on this year's squad. He has been most impressive with his effort on the glass. Dane ripped down 12 boards on the day which put him with double digit rebounds for the fourth time in five games. Dane has been the Jays' most consistent rebounder all season long and has taken to the role with quite a bit of enthusiasm.
Also, we cannot go without mentioning the effort that Manny Gakou put together. A big question all year has been what the Jays would do if both Tolliver and Watts were limited either by foul trouble or, heaven forbid, injury. The end of the SIU game showed us that, with the redshirting of Kenny Lawson and the departure of Ty Morrison, that Coach Altman didn't have any options he felt like he could trust. The fact that the Jays put out a lineup of five guards with Gakou staying on the bench had to be a bit of a challenge to the young Frenchman: you need to show us that you are capable of producing solid reserve minutes. On Saturday, the big man was able to do just that. Manny played a career high of 13 minutes with 3 points and 3 rebounds. The numbers don't tell the story, however. Manny was able to show a solid defensive effort, being able to stay with his man and keep from committing silly fouls. He was able to stay with his man even out to the three point line, showed some nice agility by grabbing a rebound and taking the ball up the court by himself, and even showed a bit of a fire streak with a hard foul to break up a fast break opportunity late.
It wasn't a pretty game, but the Jays came out and did exactly what they needed to do: played hard on the defensive end, crashed the boards and let their playmakers do their thing offensively. This team finally seems to feel comfortable in it's own skin and knows what it needs to do to make a run.
It will not get any easier from here on out. With a trip to Peoria and Des Moines on tap this week, the Jays aren't going to have a lot of margin for error. However, with both the Salukis and Jays tied at 8-3 in Valley play, we are starting to see some separation at the top of the league's standings. We are in good position and have our fate in our own hands, which is all you can ask for.
Against the Bears on Wednesday night, we saw the Jays answer each time that Missouri State looked to create some separation. MSU led most of the first half, but CU kept them within an arm's length and, bam, Nick Bahe gets the breakaway basket with the foul and the Jays end the first half with a two point lead. In the second half, the Jays were able to stake the early lead with a personal run by Nate Funk starting with a jumper to give CU the lead in the second half with under 12 minutes left. The Bears split a pair of free throws after a Manny Gakou foul, but then Funk came right down with a three. Blake Ahearn made two free throws after a Josh Dotzler foul, but then another three by Funk. MSU was able to get two more free throws after being fouled after getting a steal, but back down the court Funk made the layup... but, got the free throw to complete the old fashion three point play. This is a perfect example of the sort of play we have been fortunate enough to get out of the senior MVP candidate. Not only will Nate put up the numbers you want, but he can literally put the team on his back and will them to success as he did here on Wednesday.The Bears weren't going to go down that easily. They chipped away over several minutes and topped it off with an absolute bomb of a three from Ahearn to retake the lead. However, next trip down the floor, Nick Porter nails the three from the wing and the Jays retake control. Nick's line on the night has one glaring flaw that traditionalists will crinkle their nose at---six turnovers--but there is no question that we do not win in Springfield without the contributions of the man from Compton. Nick not only put up the points, but like Nate, carried this team offensively for stretches of the game. Nick has a tendency to get a lot of grief because he can follow up an awesome cut to the basket with a silly turnover the next trip down, but make no question he has been just as critical during this stretch as Nate and Anthony.
Now, we arrive at Anthony Tolliver. Much was made before the game about this being Anthony's last trip home to Springfield and the fact that he had yet to get a win in the Hammons Center during his career at Creighton. The A-Train was able to put together another great game: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks. Also, you could tell the passion and the drive that Anthony had to finally finish this off and get that specter of the hometown team put away. Kudos to both Anthony and the coaching staff in keeping that energy channeled positively.
The Jays were able to seal the deal and weather the late MSU fury to close with a 66-62 win. This put the Jays back on track and kept us in a first place tie with the Salukis. Coming into Saturday afternoon's tilt with Indiana State, they theme of the day was to stay consistent and avoid any letdowns. With the 55-52 loss to the Sycamores in Terre Haute, as well as the first home game after an equally disappointing one point loss to SIU, ISU was guaranteed to have the Jays full attention.The afternoon on Sunday belonged to the young man from Sioux City again. With 20 points, Nate Funk was able to join the top 10 in all-time Creighton scoring, passing John C. Johnson with his career 1,527 points. Not unlike the game against Missouri State, Nate was able to carry the load personally and with his 5-6 shooting in the first half, kept the Jays on pace offensively as the ground down the Sycamores over the long haul.
Two things really stood out from the game, however. First was the strong effort by Dane Watts. Watts has been able to adjust well to his position as a key role player on this year's squad. He has been most impressive with his effort on the glass. Dane ripped down 12 boards on the day which put him with double digit rebounds for the fourth time in five games. Dane has been the Jays' most consistent rebounder all season long and has taken to the role with quite a bit of enthusiasm.
Also, we cannot go without mentioning the effort that Manny Gakou put together. A big question all year has been what the Jays would do if both Tolliver and Watts were limited either by foul trouble or, heaven forbid, injury. The end of the SIU game showed us that, with the redshirting of Kenny Lawson and the departure of Ty Morrison, that Coach Altman didn't have any options he felt like he could trust. The fact that the Jays put out a lineup of five guards with Gakou staying on the bench had to be a bit of a challenge to the young Frenchman: you need to show us that you are capable of producing solid reserve minutes. On Saturday, the big man was able to do just that. Manny played a career high of 13 minutes with 3 points and 3 rebounds. The numbers don't tell the story, however. Manny was able to show a solid defensive effort, being able to stay with his man and keep from committing silly fouls. He was able to stay with his man even out to the three point line, showed some nice agility by grabbing a rebound and taking the ball up the court by himself, and even showed a bit of a fire streak with a hard foul to break up a fast break opportunity late.
It wasn't a pretty game, but the Jays came out and did exactly what they needed to do: played hard on the defensive end, crashed the boards and let their playmakers do their thing offensively. This team finally seems to feel comfortable in it's own skin and knows what it needs to do to make a run.
It will not get any easier from here on out. With a trip to Peoria and Des Moines on tap this week, the Jays aren't going to have a lot of margin for error. However, with both the Salukis and Jays tied at 8-3 in Valley play, we are starting to see some separation at the top of the league's standings. We are in good position and have our fate in our own hands, which is all you can ask for.
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