Creighton finished 1-2 at the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas last week, but coach Greg McDermott was proud the Bluejays ended the week with a win against Oregon.
“You grow in a lot of ways. You can grow and be successful, but you find out a lot about your team when you lose,” McDermott said. “How do they respond? Is it an unselfish approach to their response? Do they take ownership themselves? We’ve got to be a team that gives everything we have to our team regardless of how it might impact us individually.”
Creighton returns to Omaha, Neb., to resume their nonconference schedule Tuesday night against winless but pesky Nicholls.
Creighton (4-3) dropped its two scheduled games of the Players Era, 81-74 to Baylor and 78-60 to then-No. 15 Iowa State. That sent the Bluejays to the Thanksgiving Day consolation round to face Oregon, which had also started 0-2.
Blake Harper posted team highs of 18 points and nine rebounds and Owen Freeman collected 14 points in 17 minutes in Creighton’s 76-66 win.
“I felt like they came back and punched us in the mouth in the second half. And, to be honest, it’s like the first time this season that we got back up and ride together and fall right back,” Harper said. “So just kind of seeing that really just makes me a lot more optimistic. It’s a long season. We’ll play a lot of great opponents. I feel like that’s a great stepping stone for the whole season.”
Creighton is led in scoring by Josh Dix (11.7 points per game) and Harper (11.3). The Bluejays recently lost Jackson McAndrew for the season due to a foot injury.
Nicholls (0-6) is one of six winless teams remaining in Division I, but it’s far and away the highest-rated among them on KenPom.com at No. 263. That’s partly because the Colonels, who won 20 games in each of Tevon Saddler’s first two seasons as coach, have lost to strong opponents like Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Murray State and Tulane.
The trip to Omaha marks the end of a seven-game road stretch to open Nicholls’ season before it gets its home opener Saturday vs. Incarnate Word.
Three of Nicholls’ four double-digit scorers — Trae English (13.5), Jaylen Searles (13.4) and Sincere Malone (11.8) — are the only three players who returned from last year’s roster.
“All three of them started in the conference semis last year, they played meaningful minutes,” Saddler said before the season. “Just that leadership, them understanding who I am as a person, them understanding how we’re gonna operate, it’s been really good to have those guys back. They’re doing a really good job leading the group.”
