Game Thread: Xavier vs Creighton (2/10/2024)

[paulxu]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2a1f45a0-e1cc-4202-89d7-1b7b5c27f309_1.3c18d8e111cdcd7e8a271effb6000907.jp eg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFFVS.https://www.lawlorscustom.com/images/thumbs/0005980_cu-billy-bluejay-plush-mascot_550.jpeg


CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the BIG EAST Conference, host the No. 19/18 Creighton University Bluejays, 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the BIG EAST, at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Xavier enters the contest with a three-game winning streak, while Creighton is coming off a tough 91-87 overtime loss at Providence on Wednesday.

This is Hall of Fame Weekend for Xavier Athletics. Xavier will induct six new members into the Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame at a Friday night dinner event at Cintas Center and will honor them again at halftime of the Creighton game. This year's six-member induction class includes a pair of men's basketball players who led Xavier to its first-ever BIG EAST Basketball Regular Season Championship and No. 1 NCAA seed in 2018, Trevon Bluiett ('18) and J.P. Macura ('18). Bluiett and Macura, who led Xavier to four NCAA Tournament appearances, both made the 2017 All-West Regional Team as they led XU to the 2017 Elite Eight.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (13-10, 7-5 BIG EAST)
NO. 19/18 CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY BLUEJAYS (16-7, 7-5 BIG EAST)
SATURDAY, FEB. 7, 2024 AT 12:30 P.M. ET
CINTAS CENTER IN CINCINNATI, OHIO

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FOX national, including FOX 19 in Cincinnati, with play-by-play from Tim Brando and analysis from Robbie Hummel.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-AM with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88). XU broadcast is also on the Varsity Network and on SXM.
National Radio: ESPN Radio with Mike Couzens and Bob Valvano on the call.


Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com (http://statbroadcast.com/) and fan stats at GoXavier.com. (https://goxavier.com/)

[paulxu]

Not sure why they have the game on February 7...but I think it's the 10th.
Big doings: Fox National, and ESPN radio.

Let's just win this for JP and Trevon. If we're trailing...suit them up. They beat Creighton twice in '18.

[Xville]

x -1.5

Surprised...kenpom says pick'em or Creighton -1. May be a good sign!!

[Xavier]

Wish there was more chatter about McDermott leaving. Maybe distract the team more.

We seemed to get in the lane quite a bit last game but KAlkbrenner scared us a bit. Thought we were the better team through 30 min last time. They scare me because they can get so hot from deep. Hope it’s an off day and we will be fine. Kinda expect it to be a toss up at the last media time out.

[Xville]

Lots of foul trouble with Swain, Ousmane and Q that X had to deal with the last time. Pretty sure they all had 4 with like 6 or 7 minutes left. I don't expect the same ridiculous favorable whistle that Creighton received. If Creighton doesn't shoot out of their minds, X wins.

[D-West & PO-Z]

So mad I have to miss being there for this one. Didn't realize Tre and JP would be there as well.

When are they going to retire Tre's number already? I won't miss that one!

[drudy23]

Win please.

[flatspat]

Any guess who refs will be

[D-West & PO-Z]

Any guess who refs will be

Please no Breeding or Charge O'Connell

[flatspat]

Breeding only has to drive from Louisville. I'd b happy wbClougherty Gaffney or Shows if not doing SEC

[D-West & PO-Z]

If anyone looking for lower level seats send me a PM.

[HenryMuto]

x -1.5

Surprised...kenpom says pick'em or Creighton -1. May be a good sign!!

I was surprised at that as well but looks like the money has rolled in on Creighton as they are now - 1.5

[American X]

This is Hall of Fame Weekend for Xavier Athletics...Trevon Bluiett ('18) and J.P. Macura ('18)

Trevor Bullet, that kid's good! Would anyone notice if J.P. 'MFing Myles Fox Morrissey' Macura slid into Ciani's jersey?

[UCGRAD4X]

Trevor Bullet, that kid's good! Would anyone notice if J.P. 'MFing Myles Fox Morrissey' Macura slid into Ciani's jersey?

He'd give it away the first time he passed the other team's bench.

[X-band '01]

Runningman Jerseys being worn for this one. I hope they get a Runningman court done over the summer while renovations are going on at Cintas.

[noteggs]

Breeding only has to drive from Louisville. I'd b happy wbClougherty Gaffney or Shows if not doing SEC

The refs will be John Gaffney, Lamar Simpson, and Evon Burroughs. So you should be happy.

[Xville]

Is gus Johnson not a regular for basketball anymore? I know some feel he is over the top, but I love listening to him. Surprised he isn’t doing this one but maybe he is on the iu-Purdue game tonight

[X-band '01]

Think he still does Saturday night games for Fox; I'm sure he'll be in NYC for the Big East Tournament next month.

He also fills in for Mike Breen on MSG when Breen is doing national games for ESPN/ABC.

[HenryMuto]

Could not ask for a better start up 11-4 and going to the line when we come back from break.

[Xville]

Outfreakingstanding start

[Xuperman]

Q is going to make some serious $$$$ playing basketball.

[noteggs]

Keep running it boys, Creighton has a short bench

[Xville]

D has played so well… Baylor Scheirmann is so good and so annoying

[noteggs]

Need some work on P&R, but yea overall good

[GoMuskies]

Ousmane is not good in the post.

[Xville]

Ugh d has now taken a slumber

[GoMuskies]

Just because they're both white doesn't mean Gytis and Djokovic look alike Tim Brando.

[noteggs]

Ousmane is not good in the post.

Zero touch from 4 feet in

[Xville]

Gotta stop kalkbrenner from having a career day.

[paulxu]

Sometimes we run off to a nice start, and I think...just keep the 10 point lead and roll on to the end.

Then we go to sleep or something. Ugh.

[GoMuskies]

How has Creighton lost so many games?

[HenryMuto]

Damn from up 15-6 to down 38-29

18 point swing

[Xavier]

Game completely flipped. Will take best half of the year to crawl out of it. Osman has been awful, but we are missing shots we normally make. I just don’t see how we can turn this into a game

[Xville]

How has Creighton lost so many games?

Cause they aren’t that good. Kalk is a good player but x made him look like a lottery pick that half

[MHettel]

Cause they aren’t that good

And yet they have a 9 point lead at half at our place in a must win game

[Xville]

And yet they have a 9 point lead at half at our place in a must win game

Not really must win. Just need to win at least one of next two.

[xuwillie]

And yet they have a 9 point lead at half at our place in a must win game

I'd say they are above avg big east team but nothing special. Wait till they start making threes. I would have thought X would be up 10-15 if you would have told me Creighton would shoot 4-16 form threes. Could get real ugly

[bjf123]

Here’s a thought. Don’t drive the lane against Kalkbrenner.


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[Xuperman]

That one trip at the 8 minute mark, where FIVE Trey Green points was snuffed out by totally unnecessary fouls was significant.

[KabeX]

Gettin real ugly

[noteggs]

1 for last 15! Unbelievable!!!

[Xville]

Good to see us come out with some defensive intensity out of the half… geezus

[KabeX]

CU shooting 25% from 3, no FTs and still up 15. Need someone to put the rock in the hole or we'll lose by 30

[bjf123]

We need to staring draining threes


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[Xuperman]

Yeah,
This is a Sean Miller situation to figure out going forward. The roster simply has to be more BE competitive.

[bjf123]

Stick us with a fork.


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[HenryMuto]

Was always going to be a tall order to make the tournament this year without Hunter and Freemantle.

[Xville]

Whatever the plan is against kalkbrenner, it’s not working. Ousmane has been extremely disappointing today

[KabeX]

CU simply playing smart basketball and we can't throw it in the ocean. Bad combo.

[Xville]

2 pts 3 rbs from our big guys. That’s pathetic. That “pep talk” for Gytis didn’t work.

[KabeX]

Well we have a heartbeat. Long way to go.

[Xville]

Ok close to being right back in it. Plenty of time!

[Xavier]

Man I’m tired of our fast break where we just take wild layup attempt. We’ve had at least four awful tries on fast break

[Xavgrad08]

Ugh that three by Miller from Creighton was a dagger.

[noteggs]

2 pts 3 rbs from our big guys. That’s pathetic. That “pep talk” for Gytis didn’t work.

Speaking the obvious, but has been our Achilles most of the year on O

[GoMuskies]

They're just way better.

[xu82]

Anything good on TV today?

[GoMuskies]

Ousmane is not good.

[Xville]

Our frontcourt was more pathetic than usual today. Need a good five in the portal desperately. That should be priority number one

[noteggs]

Gave up 38 points in paint. Still 8 minutes left

[GoMuskies]

One last run? Too little, too late I'm sure, but I guess you never know.

[Xavgrad08]

[QUOTE=GoMuskies;776665]They're just way better.[/QUOTE ]
Yep, The difference between Xavier’s bigs and Creighton's/UConn’s bigs is apparent.

[bjf123]

One last run? Too little, too late I'm sure, but I guess you never know.

I think we all know.


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[Xville]

Well, gotta win at seton hall to keep hope alive.

[American X]

This is rather mean cutting it to seven and giving us hope.

[Xville]

This is rather mean cutting it to seven and giving us hope.

Yeah no kidding. Another cruel finish

[Xavgrad08]

Well, gotta win at seton hall to keep hope alive.

The next two games are must win games for Xavier in my opinion.

[noteggs]

Won the second half!

[Xville]

Should have just played the game without ousmane, djokovic, Gytis and Ciani. Just go small and have swain at the five, cause the frontcourt was a complete joke today

[HenryMuto]

Good fight to comeback and cut it to 5 but I think we had 3 possessions in a row there starting down 9 and we only got 4 pts out of it. I think we needed to start firing up 3's and pray a couple hit because just not enough time to get back in it with 2s

Also had to foul anyone else besides the 93% FT shooter. With those being 1 and 1's and only needing a front end miss you can't let the ball get to the 93% FT shooter have to foul anyone else.

[paulxu]

When you score 71 points...and your guards score 69 of them, and your forwards 2...you won't ever really be competitive in the BE.

I understand guard play is critical to success, but that is just crazy. Kalkbrenner with 28 is also nuts

[xukeith]

Abou with 2 points and 1 rebound didn't help.
Lazar wasn't perfect but he did help on defense.
Swain nice game.

X needs more than 4 points from Green and Swain.

X needs a consistent power forward and center.

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

So glad I was at the biggest game of the year and had the opportunity to see J.P. Macura back at X. As to the game, I'm ready for Swain to be inserted into the starting five and I'm also ready to label the Euro experiment a failure. Our Bigs added virtually nothing today. Nothing. The biggest game of the year. A great crowd. Everything in our favor except we have no front line. They were, once again, AWOL. Creighton must have run that same play to Kalkbrenner ten times and nobody could stop it. That was God awful.

[xukeith]

Is there any hope that in 1-3 years Lazar can be as effective as Kalk.?
Lazar had a good defensive game.
Creighton's best defensive player had 28 points. CU's top 3 beat X's starting 5.


Does X want all Euros to return next year? Lazar might have a huge upside but it will take 2 years.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

We needed this one, but when you dump some games you should win like this team has we are without any cushion. They literally have zero quality wins, but have a a few opportunities left.

[bjf123]

Is there any hope that in 1-3 years Lazar can be as effective as Kalk.?
Lazar had a good defensive game.
Creighton's best defensive player had 28 points. CU's top 3 beat X's starting 5

He’s not 7’1” 275 lbs, so that will hinder him somewhat. I would expect him to improve each year and be much more effective. Could be more mobile than Kalk.


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[Xville]

We needed this one, but when you dump some games you should win like this team has we are without any cushion. They literally have zero quality wins, but have a a few opportunities left.

2 quad 1s bordering on a 3rd. They do need to win at seton hall though to pick up another. Really need to win the next 4 out of 5 which is asking a lot

[X-band '01]

About the only real plus side going into the rest of the Big East schedule is that none of the remaining frontcourts are as abusive as what UConn and Creighton bring to the table. Gonna have to go through at least one of them if they want to get wins of significance in the Big East Tournament next month.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Bad loss for sure. You can’t lose at home to this above avg Creighton team and expect to dance. That is a good but not great blue jays team. They are first weekend only. At this point go for the winning season , get a few extra NIT games and let get ready for next year. Miller did all he could with these guys but these Euros just can’t compete yet. The year turned out better than most thought , that’s how good Miller is.

[drudy23]

Bad loss for sure. You can’t lose at home to this above avg Creighton team and expect to dance. That is a good but not great blue jays team. They are first weekend only. At this point go for the winning season , get a few extra NIT games and let get ready for next year. Miller did all he could with these guys but these Euros just can’t compete yet. The year turned out better than most thought , that’s how good Miller is.

Creighton is very, very good. They have all the pieces and are one of the most well rounded teams in the country.

The weak spot on this roster was bright red today.

[Xavier]

I was a little surprised to hear Sean say on radio that we decided to guard the pick and roll slightly differently so there guards wouldn’t get to the hoop as easily as last game. We were in control with 12 min left last game….I mean, a good coach will exploit you if you just do the same thing I guess but still, seemed like a weird mix up.

[drudy23]

I was a little surprised to hear Sean say on radio that we decided to guard the pick and roll slightly differently so there guards wouldn’t get to the hoop as easily as last game. We were in control with 12 min left last game….I mean, a good coach will exploit you if you just do the same thing I guess but still, seemed like a weird mix up.

I can understand the gameplan. As impactful as Kalkbrenner is, Creighton is more lethal from behind the arc. The idea was to let Kalkbrenner get his with the thought they he likely won't beat you by himself. Well, he pretty much did. And that's because our bigs just simply aren't Big East caliber.

Against Creighton, you have to pick your poison. The are solid inside and out, with mature and savvy guards who can all shoot the rock at a high clip. They are a very good team and I wouldn't be surprised to see them back knocking on the door of the Final Four. They have all the pieces and are very hard to guard.

[Xavier]

Yeah, fair points. I thought they only way they beat us is if they shot well from 3. They shot 25%. Ouch.

[American X]

I Triple Dog Dare Creighton to go to the Final Four.

At least I got to drink early today.

[MHettel]

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I feel like it's been a dunk fest against us when we play against the good big men in the BE (UConn, CU, SJU). Its embarrassing.

[Xville]

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I feel like it's been a dunk fest against us when we play against the good big men in the BE (UConn, CU, SJU). Its embarrassing.

I don’t know the stats but I agree. Feel like the aforementioned teams’ centers just abuse us. Free and hunter are not elite defenders but that shit wouldn’t be happening if we had them. Honestly believe this team could have been special with those two healthy.

[Lloyd Braun]

You know there’s a problem when we are dreaming of Freemantle on defense LOL… Free has taken his share of beatings defensively especially in big east play. He’s not tall enough, stout enough (in the ass), or long enough to defend big east centers. Neither is Jerome to be fair but they give more on the offensive side than Ousmane and the other bigs in conference play.

Still time to figure it out. They have some ballers in the backcourt.

[Xville]

You know there’s a problem when we are dreaming of Freemantle on defense LOL… Free has taken his share of beatings defensively especially in big east play. He’s not tall enough, stout enough (in the ass), or long enough to defend big east centers. Neither is Jerome to be fair but they give more on the offensive side than Ousmane and the other bigs in conference play.

Still time to figure it out. They have some ballers in the backcourt.

Ha fair! However, I think they would have done a better job than the guys did today. As Sean I’m sure is, freaking sick of getting zero from the 4 spot. It’s time to just put swain in there and give him 30 minutes and live with the freshman mistakes. Gytis does nothing well.

Also pissed off that x is probably be the one leg of my parlay that I lose. The frontcourt owes me a couple hundred lol

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Honestly, I don't think there is any more time "to figure it out".

Agree with above. Is time to go with Swain for extended minutes. He's not a natural "4" but he gives us a better chance to win. The front court issues don't start and end with Gytis. If we are to compete for the B.E. championship next year, Miller must re-construct the roster. We cannot win with Abou as the starting "5". He's just not what we need down low, either offensively or defensively. While I've seen some improvement in Ciani this season, he hasn't improved enough to give me confidence that he can elevate his game next year from a back-up who plays a few minutes a game to a more important role. And, Gytis and Lazar, I'm sorry to say, have not been able to contribute in any meaningful way. I don't think either of them can help us next year.


Guard play, I think we all agree, is great. But, as an earlier post stated, we played three on five today.

[Perma Fro]

Surprised that no one has mentioned that christi Mack and her cuck were in attendance wearing X gear in a suite.

[bjf123]

Surprised that no one has mentioned that christi Mack and her cuck were in attendance wearing X gear in a suite.

Cuck? I wouldn’t recognize Christi if she walked right up to me.


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[X-band '01]

Surprised that no one has mentioned that christi Mack and her cuck were in attendance wearing X gear in a suite.

Guessing that was because of the Hall of Fame ceremony involving Trevon and JP (even though Blueitt was overseas playing basketball and couldn't attend).

[waggy]

Well if lazar can’t shoot the 3 I don’t know how he’ll ever be a starter. He turned down at least 2 today. Maybe I’m missing it but doesn’t seem like they running any plays for anyone but the guards. Oh yeah and once in a while Abou, and we know what that looks like.

[drudy23]

Well if lazar can’t shoot the 3 I don’t know how he’ll ever be a starter. He turned down at least 2 today. Maybe I’m missing it but doesn’t seem like they running any plays for anyone but the guards. Oh yeah and once in a while Abou, and we know what that looks like.

Do you blame them?

[waggy]

Do you blame them?

Not really. But I think they need to suffer the inevitable misses from whoever is playing the 4.

[bleedXblue]

Post play and development has been non existent and a huge disappointment. Expecting a little improvement even with the youth and inexperience is table stakes at this level.

[X-band '01]

Well if lazar can’t shoot the 3 I don’t know how he’ll ever be a starter. He turned down at least 2 today. Maybe I’m missing it but doesn’t seem like they running any plays for anyone but the guards. Oh yeah and once in a while Abou, and we know what that looks like.

I will actually give him credit for not taking the bait for Creighton. Remember when Creighton would triple-dog dare Jerome Hunter to shoot the 3 last year?

[bjf123]

Didn’t Lazar take a poorly timed 3 a couple of games ago and was immediately yanked and road the pinw the rest of the game? He’s probably gun shy.


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[American X]

What exactly is preventing Swain from playing 30 minutes? Are you afraid of giving up 30 to Kalkbrenner? It is not as if it could have gone worse. Cage and Burrell used to guard the other team's best player regardless. Swain has the tools to do the same.

[waggy]

I would go with swain and lazar at the 4. But statistically they aren’t glaring upgrades over gytis. Generally the coach is going to go with the older player unless the younger players soundly beat him out. Dilemma. They are better press trapping team with younger guys.

[X-band '01]

I do think we'll see more of the lineup with Swain/Green and none of the Euros on Wednesday - they gave the Pirates fits in the December matchup. Seton Hall is a very turnover-prone team.