Springfield, MO – Hoping to exact some revenge for their only ranked Creighton Blue Jays have come to Springfield to tangle with the Missouri State Bears.
Creighton has lost only two of its first 18 games this season, and one of those came in a December 28, 2011 clash with this same Missouri State squad in the MVC opener, 77-65. Since then however, the Bluejays have won six straight, the most recent of which occurred last Sunday versus Southern Illinois in a 90-71 final. Creighton has won six of its seven true road games this season.
Missouri State is hoping to put the brakes on a brief two-game slide, as the team has lost to Northern Iowa and Evansville in the last week. As a result, the Bears currently sit at 11-8 overall and 4-3 in conference. They have won six of their nine home games to this point, and they will try to add to their recent dominance of the Bluejays tonight, as they have won six straight in the series.
Despite its recent trials against Missouri State, Creighton owns a narrow 30-28 advantage in the all-time series.
Creighton boasts the nation's No. 2 scorer in sophomore forward Doug McDermott. A 62.1 percent shooter overall who also happens to be one of the top three-point shooters in the country (.532), McDermott is averaging 24.3 ppg. He also rounds out his impressive stat line with 8.5 rpg and he is an 84.4 percent shooter from the free-throw line as well. Antoine Young (12.3 ppg, 4.3 apg) is the only other double-digit scorer for the Bluejays, who have had very little trouble scoring points this season (82.7 ppg) due to the fact that they hit 51.6 percent of their total shots, which includes a stellar 45.7 percent effort from beyond the arc. Defensively, Creighton permits 69.4 ppg and the team is +5.6 in rebounding margin. McDermott was once again the high man for the Bluejays in their recent win over Southern Illinois, logging a double-double consisting of 25 points and 11 rebounds. Young contributed 14 points and six assists, while Grant Gibbs chipped in with 10 points. Gregory Echenique finished with nine points and 11 boards, and Ethan Wragge came off the bench to nail three treys to tally nine points as well. Creighton shot 55.1 percent from the floor, and a 28-11 edge in points from the foul line played an obvious role in the outcome.
Instead of relying on one guy to carry the bulk of the scoring load, Missouri State counters with a more balanced attack, and that has helped the team average 69.1 ppg. The Bears feature four double-digit scorers, and while none are on par with Creighton's McDermott, Kyle Weems (16.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, .405 three-point FG percentage) has done his part to help the Bears to their favorable record this season. Caleb Patterson (12.9 ppg), Jarmar Gulley (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Anthony Downing (10.9 ppg, ) round out the offensive-minded quartet for Missouri State, which as a team is shooting 45.7 percent from the floor, 35.0 percent from downtown and 73.8 percent from the charity stripe. Michael Bizoukas isn't much of a scorer (5.1 ppg), but his true worth is measured by his ability to get his teammates involved in the offense (6.1 apg). Weems scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the Bears dropped an 87-82 overtime decision to visiting Evansville over the weekend. MSU went just 1-of-8 from the floor in the extra session, while the Purple Aces made four of their seven field goal attempts to seal the deal.
