Here's an amazing thing to think about: last night's game was the the first road game all year not on TV...and there's just one more untelevised game all year, home or away. For long-time fans like me, that's simply absurd to consider. I can remember sitting in my dorm in Swanson Hall in '98, and the Jays MVC Tourney game in St. Louis was the first time they were on TV all year. Now, 24 of their 29 games are televised. Think about that. Oh, how far we've come.
So I sat there listening to the radio broadcast -- the webcasts do not work on my new MacBook, because the version of MediaPlayer required does not run, or even install, on Macs with Intel processors -- and tried to let T. Scott paint a picture of the game for me. No, I'm serious, really. Stop laughing. I had to close my eyes, because its hard to follow his call if you're doing anything else, but I was able to do it. Quite an amusing thing, honestly.
Coming into this game, I was privately concerned. Publicly, I was predicting a huge win, because that's what I do. Its not that I'm unrealistic about the Jays, I just refuse to ever say they will lose a game before they play it. Why bother paying attention to it if you're sure they will lose? I have better things to do if that's the case.
But I was concerned, because Indiana State shoots the ball incredibly well. Marco Stinson absolutely torched Drake in the previous game, making NINE CONSECUTIVE THREE's. The Trees handed media darling Butler their only loss of the year, kicked the bejeezus out of Big Ten bully Purdue, and were averaging nearly 85 points a game.
One of things I've harped on incessantly is the Jays horrifyingly bad perimeter defense. My buddy Tony was convinced the perimeter woes were because Josh Dotzler was playing at 70%, and they had to stay in a soft zone to protect him even though they were getting torched. Well, he didn't play against either the Teddy Bears or the Cards, so explain to me what the problem is now! Just kidding, TC.
Pour the ingredients into a mixer, and here's what the game had the potential to look like:
Indiana State shoots the ball well, with one sharpshooter on a hot streak. Creighton has trouble identifying shooters, and generally plays poor perimeter defense.
Indiana State has beaten Butler and Purdue at home, and is riding a long home-court winning streak. Creighton is 0-4 on the road this year.
Indiana State is averaging almost 85 points a game. Creighton has only scored that many one time all year.
And I was predicting a win? I must be delusional.
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The Jays lost this game 55-52. When my teams lose, I am not happy. Usually I need an elixer to calm myself down -- Bud Light is the drug of choice. Drink three of these and all will be well in the morning!
So why was I not all that upset following this game?
Think back to the previous road games (Nebraska, Dayton, Fresno, Hawaii), and if you can't think back that far, refer to what I wrote just a few paragraphs above. (If you can't remember back that far EITHER, scroll back up. Its the rectangular bar on the right, between the up and down arrows on the far right side of your browser window). What was the common denominator is all of those games, the one thing I bitched about consistently? The fact that CU got, for all intents and purposes, blown out because one or two good shooters lit them up from outside.
But in this game, the Jays actually played really good defense, both inside and out. They held Indiana State to just 55 points, and 38% shooting. They stopped Marco Stinson from getting open looks. For the first time all year, they looked like they were talking on defense, making sure everyone knew their assignments and recognizing who the shooters were on the court. They appeared to not only understand what the offense was trying to do against them, but they actually were doing something to combat it. I can't be upset about that. If you can hold a good shooting team to 55 points on their home court, you'll take that 100% of the time.
Now think back to, well, every other game all year long. Offensively, I've opined here about the lack of flow, the players standing straight up and down, not in position to shoot, and not moving without the ball. Even in their wins, the offense has been disjointed and out of sorts, with the exception of a few stretches here and there.
But in this game, the Jays had an extraordinary flow going on offense. They had more open shots than I've seen them have in a long time. I'll grant you that some of this may have been a by-product of Indiana State's game plan to take A-Train out of the game and make someone else beat them, but I think there was also just a better sense of how to run the offense than there has been in other games.
They turned it over just 8 times. They tied the Trees 33-33 in rebounding margin. Their shooting percentages were virtually the same (37.7 to 38.0).
Reading that breakdown, you'd think the Jays won this game. How did they lose?
They committed just 8 turnovers, but it seemed like every single one of them came at the absolute worst time, and contributed to an Indiana State run. The Trees had two 10-0 runs, one per half.
They had open looks, but they made almost none of them. The Jays shot 37.7 percent from the field, and just 20% from beyond the arc.
And defensively, they played much tougher, but allowed Indiana State to make one more shot than them, and that was the difference in a 3-point win.
This was a chance to steal a road win in a game in which they shot 37%. Think about that. If they shoot 40%, that means they make 2 more baskets, and they win. If they shoot 45%, they win going away.
This was the first road contest all year in which you could legitimately say afterward, "Man, they could have won that one!" And its the first road game all year that I wished wasn't over when it ended -- as opposed to being saved by the bell in the other four.
That leaves me with a much better feeling heading into Evansville than I expected to have following a loss. I believe, if the defensive turnaround lasts more than one game, that we're on the verge of a season-turnaround winning streak. We'll get enough shots to fall, I think. I just don't see us shooting 37% in very many games.
You bet.
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