UConn men head west for bout with McDermott, Creighton in Omaha
The No. 2 UConn men’s basketball team (20-1, 10-0) has won 16 consecutive games – good for the third-longest winning streak in the country – and is halfway to Big East immortality.
Creighton (12-9, 6-4), meanwhile, has lost four of seven and is amidst its worst start since the 2018-19 season, marred by injuries and underperforming transfers.
Now throw all of that away; records don’t mean anything in the Big East, and Dan Hurley knows that. The Huskies have only won in Omaha once in program history, and it took a herculean effort from NBA-bound Liam McNeeley last year to pull it off.
“They’re one of the top programs in college basketball,” Hurley said. “They’ve got one of the best coaches. They’ve been consistently competing for the conference championship.”
The Huskies and Bluejays meet Saturday at 8 p.m. at the CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha. Below is an opponent profile of Creighton and storylines to watch for UConn.
Opponent Profile: Creighton Bluejays (12-9, 6-4)
Creighton, buoyed by the uber-steady Greg McDermott, has made five consecutive NCAA Tournaments, which included a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight in 2023.
But those ‘Jays had something these do not; a seven-foot anchor that patrolled both ends of the floor. Ryan Kalkbenner, like McNeeley, is with the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA. Steven Ashworth, Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman are also gone, leaving the venerable McDermott with a relatively new cast of transfers and inexperience.
And it hasn’t been a smooth flight thus far. After being picked third in the Big East Preseason Poll, Creighton limped to a 5-5 start, rattled off four in a row to start league play, then lost nailbiters to Seton Hall and Providence. Tuesday’s 24-point walloping at the hands of Marquette was the Bluejays’ fifth loss to a team ranked lower than them on KenPom.
Leading scorers Josh Dix (12.3) and Austin Swartz (11.9) haven’t been able to string together more than four double-digit performances in a row at any point this year. The guard duo, both transfers from high major conferences in Iowa and Miami, respectively, head an offensive attack that ranks fourth in the Big East in points per game.
Nine different Bluejays have started a game this year, with injuries (and underperformances) hindering McDermott from stabilizing the rotation. The most consistent starting combination this season in Omaha, and the one Connecticut should expect to get Saturday, comprises Swartz, Dix, Ty Davis, Isaac Traudt and Jasen Green.
Storylines to Watch for No. 2 UConn (20-1, 10-0)
The Huskies are relatively healthy. Healthy is, after all, a relative term in late January. Only freshman Braylon Mullins (concussion) is questionable heading into Saturday’s game, with Hurley providing an encouraging update Friday.
“He’s progressing through all the protocols,” Hurley said. “He’s taking all the steps to able to step out on the court. He was able to get in practice… I think he feels pretty good.”
Mullins’ return as a surehanded 3-point shooter is what the Huskies, who’ve struggled with consistent shot making all season, need to revitalize its downtown attack.
“We’ve struggled with shot making. We’re getting the same types of shots we’ve been getting the last couple of years when we’ve been a highly efficient offense,” Hurley added.
If the Huskies continue to struggle from behind the line, look for the center duo of Tarris Reed Jr. and Eric Reibe to again be the lifeline of the offense Saturday. The two centers combined for 33 points on 14-of-15 shooting against Providence on Tuesday, and Reibe continues to show early returns of an elite offensive center.
Hurley only went three deep off the bench against the Friars; whether that changes against a reeling Bluejays squad is to be determined, but look for Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart to shoulder more bench minutes with the Green assignment down low.
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