Marquette @ Creighton preview
CHI Health Center Omaha
Last Meeting ( Feb 18, 2020 ) Creighton 73, Marquette 65
Creighton coach Greg McDermott addresses his team's approach in blunt fashion -- not unlike the eighth-ranked Bluejays in ideal form.
"Our goal, with the way we play, is to hit you with a run at some point in the game," McDermott said.
Boom.
Visiting Marquette will be the next foe looking to stem Creighton's spurts as the schools meet Monday in Omaha, Neb, to begin Big East play. But with injuries piling up, the Golden Eagles (4-2) realize that the task looms even larger than usual.
"For us, we need everybody," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We need to try to find some sort of health between here and Omaha."
With guard Symir Torrence out with an injured toe in his left foot and veteran frontcourt starter Theo John hampered of late with a knee injury, Marquette was forced to use numerous lineups with limited practice time together when they went to Los Angeles and lost to UCLA 69-60 Friday.
Marquette struggled to maintain an offensive rhythm at UCLA, committing 18 turnovers, including 12 in the first half.
"Obviously within the game of basketball, there are going to be mistakes," Wojciechowski said. "But we're having way too many, and it's putting an incredible amount of pressure on our defense. And to beat really good teams, you have to play hard and efficiently on both ends."
That credo figures to count double against the Bluejays, who staged separate 9-0 runs in the first half of Friday's game against in-state rival Nebraska before using a 30-7 second-half surge to cruise to a 98-74 victory.
Creighton (4-1) started the second half 17-for-24 from the field and scored on 10 straight possessions during one stretch. The Cornhuskers had 25 turnovers.
"If we stay connected, really guard the ball and make the other team take tough shots, I think that's when the momentum starts to go in our favor," said the Bluejays' Marcus Zegarowski, who led the team with 22 points against Nebraska. "Because it leads to transition baskets and it leads to easy baskets. That's what we did in the second half."
Denzel Mahoney scored 20 points in 28 minutes for the Bluejays, whose only loss this season came in the final minute on the road at No. 5 Kansas.
Marquette got 18 points from guard D.J. Carton in the UCLA game, just his third start since transferring from Ohio State.
"I think with each game, he's getting more comfortable and showing improvement," Wojciechowski said of Carton. "There's things he can continue to improve upon, but we're seeing him kind of round into the player we believe he can be."
Marquette was only 4-for-20 from 3-point range against UCLA, including 0-for-11 in the second half. Wojciechowski bemoaned his team's offense impatience, challenging the Golden Eagles to attack the rim more often.
"That's something we have to continue to work on," Wojciechowski said.
Six-foot-11 forward Dawson Garcia had 12 points, but he was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Creighton enters the game on a three-game series winning streak, but Marquette holds a 55-35 edge in the all-time series, including victories in six of the past 11 meetings.
--Field Level Media