Recently in 2008-09 Game Recaps Category

2008-09 Game #35: Kentucky 65, Jays 63

By
Max Univers
on March 24, 2009 1:52 AM |
All I ask for as a fan, as a Jaybacker, and as an alum is for the team to play as hard as they possibly can for 40 minutes, leaving their guts, their heart, their soul, and everything they have on the court. If that's not enough to win the game, so be it. There is nothing to be ashamed of. If you do those things and come up short, I will do what I did at the conclusion of tonight's loss: stand and applaud each and every member of the team for an outstanding effort, because dammit, that sort of play is deserving of such recognition.

That was a whale of an effort, particularly defensively. I'm not sure what it looked like on TV, but in person, I can't ever remember witnessing a better off-ball defensive effort than the Jays executed on the All-American Jodie Meeks tonight. That was an absolute clinic. P'Allen Stinnett, Antoine Young and Josh Dotzler didn't just guard Meeks, they were in his face nearly every second he was on the court, and denied him from even catching the ball. It was simply extraordinary. When he did have open looks, he almost always nailed the shot, giving you a glimpse of what he might do against a worse defensive effort. That it happened so infrequently tonight is a credit to the men who stopped it from happening more often. You bet.

Furthermore, Kenny Lawson was a MAN tonight. Against the most talented big man he's likely ever faced in Patrick Patterson, he didn't just hold his own, he played toe to toe with him. In fact, you wouldn't be crazy if you made the argument Lawson outplayed him. Combined with the efforts of Kenton Walker, the Jays primary post players had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and were 8-14 from the field. Did I mention their defensive effort on Patterson was outstanding?

Everyone who got into the game had something to look back on and be proud of. Everyone.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #35: Kentucky 65, Jays 63.

2009 NIT First Round: Jays 73, Bowling Green 71

By
Max Univers
on March 19, 2009 7:34 AM |
Yesterday was my bosses' birthday, and we brought in a homemade meal of her favorite food for lunch: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, rhubarb pie and ice cream. I was entrusted with bringing in the ice cream, because my considerable cooking skills are not yet trusted. I may be the Creative/Web Production Manager for an advertising agency, but I've only been here two months. They trust my kerning; they do not trust my baking.

Meatloaf! The bombastic, theatrical singer and star of such cinematic masterpieces as Fight Club and Wayne's World? I like him very much. A loaf of bread made out of various and sundry meats? Not so much.

Why do I tell you this? For once in my life, I got a prediction right, and not just right -- REALLY right. It must be the meatloaf. Has to be. How else do you explain me writing this yesterday?

"I think the hangover from 50 minutes of shoddy play in St. Louis, coupled with the disappointment of playing in the NIT, will lead to an ugly first half. I have an awful feeling that Bowling Green is going to jump out to an early lead, perhaps by double digits. Somehow, the Jays will find a way to come back.

Creighton 69, Bowling Green 64"

Doesn't that sound like essentially an elevator speech version of the game recap? Sure does. For a couple of hours yesterday, I was marvelously clairvoyant. I also warned a co-worker that he was not only going to eat pie and ice cream, but that he was going to get an ice-cream headache when he ate it too fast.

It was like I'd taken a Quantum Leap into the body of Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic. Truly bizarre.

So...

The hangover from 50 minutes of shoddy play in St. Louis, coupled with the disappointment of playing in the NIT, led to an ugly first half.

Haha!

After the jump, I stop messing around and get to the actual recap. Join me, won't you?
Continue reading 2009 NIT First Round: Jays 73, Bowling Green 71.

2008-09 Game #33: Illinois State 73, Jays 49

By
Max Univers
on March 8, 2009 8:29 PM |
I've been racking my brain all day, and I can't recall the Jays ever playing so poorly in a game that mattered so much, at least in the DA era. For a team so reliant on jump shots for success, shooting 27% tells you a great deal about what the final score wound up being. For some perspective, that's the worst shooting percentage in a game since a February, 2001 game against Evansville.

Creighton missed layups. They missed mid-range jumpers. They missed three-pointers. Mostly, they missed.

Was it a hangover from the previous night's near-catastrophic collapse? I hate to say so, but man, that sure looked to me like a team playing with no confidence. Think about the reality of blowing a 16-point lead in the last four minutes of the game. How can that NOT be in the back of your mind? These guys are human, after all. On the opening tip, one of the Jays (I forget who, but its not important) fell down, and Champ "Don't Call me Chamberlain" Oguchi drains a wide-open three. You think doubt, even a subtle amount, doesn't creep in?

Maybe it didn't. I don't know. But I wouldn't blame them if it did.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #33: Illinois State 73, Jays 49.

2008-09 Game #32: Jays 63, Wichita State 62

By
Max Univers
on March 6, 2009 11:11 PM |
WHOOOHOOOO! YEAAAAAAHHHH! YOU BET! HIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAHHHHH! THAT'S YOUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR!!! RIGHT THERE! BOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEERRRRRR WOOOOOOODDDDDDDFOOOXXXXXX! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! YOU BET!!!

You bet.

Well then. The Jays jumped out to a 22-point lead, were ahead by 16 with just four minutes remaining, and then...

P'Allen Stinnett falls out of bounds in the backcourt with the ball. Cavel Witter dribbles the ball off his foot in the backcourt. Stinnett misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Booker Woodfox misses the front end of a 1-and-1. Kenny Lawson fails to get a rebound on a missed free throw. Stinnett gets tied up one-on-three. Lawson and Millard fail to get another rebound on another missed free throw. Stinnett gets screened and leaves Wichita State's best shooter wide open for a three. Antoine Young dribbles into traffic and loses the ball without getting off a shot at the buzzer.

And just like that, a 16 point lead with 4 minutes left had evaporated into a 62-61 deficit with under 2 seconds to play. As I sat with my buddy Gilby and about 75 other Jays fans at Beer & Loathing here in Omaha, I was about to go from a lenten vegetarian to a groin-kick anorexic. My digested cheese pizza was about to make an unwelcome reappearance to say hello to me. I was distraught and looking for things to throw. I needed a dart, or a shoe, and an empty spot on the wall to punish.

It looked bleak. Gilby, ever the realist, correctly pointed out that there would still be a second or two on the clock as a Shocker player knocked the ball out of bounds on Young's drive. We watched in horror as the Jays did what Altman teams always do: run a buzzer-beater play sans timeout. Wichita, after seeing that Creighton was lining up for a lob play to their bigs, called their last timeout to set their defense accordingly.

Unbelievably, GENIOUSLY, after seeing Wichita's defensive personnel consisted of every big man on the Shocker team and realizing the play wouldn't work, Altman did what he never does: call timeout to draw up a buzzer-beater. What a coaching job. Say what you will about his failure to use a timeout to stem the tide during the four-minute-meltdown; that timeout to draw up the play for the game-winner was great.

Altman put in all new personnel, drew up a new play...and Marshall was stuck with his big lineup because he had no more timeouts. Wichita's big men were trying to guard a shooter-heavy Jays lineup consisting of Booker, Cavel Witter, and P'Allen. You could see before the inbounds that the strategy had changed entirely -- instead of a lob play, this was going to be a jump shot. And Wichita had a lineup of bigs out there to defend it. Genius.

And so it was that Altman drew up a play to get the Player of the Year in the conference -- the leading three point shooter in the country, mind you -- the ball. And not just to get the ball, but in position to get a shot off? That's absolutely, positively, one of the most marvelous coaching moves I've seen in some time. Just what was that play?
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #32: Jays 63, Wichita State 62.

2008-09 Game #31: Jays 74, Illinois State 70

By
Max Univers
on March 1, 2009 7:43 PM |
As I watched the game on Saturday, it was apparent that this was the best Illinois State had played in about a month. In retrospect, it shouldn't have been surprising. Speaking in generalities, the Jays always get their opponent's best shot in conference games. At home, opponents get jacked up to play in front of the biggest crowd they'll see all year, in an NBA-quality arena. On the road, Jays' opponents are excited because their crowd is larger and rowdier for Creighton than it is for almost anyone else.

I've heard this theory mentioned before, but I wasn't sure I ever really bought into it. Two years ago, I almost came around to believing it after watching team after team in the MVC play lights-out against a very good Jays squad -- and then suck against other teams. You'd see SIU or Bradley or Wichita State randomly blow out a team they were supposed to struggle with, and wonder, "Why is it no one ever has an off night against Creighton?"

Because everyone circles Creighton on their schedule. No one ever looks past them, no one ever has trouble getting up for the game, and everyone wants to play well against them. It makes a lot of sense. And maybe its part of the reason Creighton hasn't won a regular season title since 2002. Not THE reason, mind you, but part of the reason. There's no off night for Creighton in the MVC. Every time Creighton plays an MVC game, they have to bring their A game because the opponent is damn sure going to bring theirs. While some other teams can afford to have a game or three where they aren't 100% focused, Creighton can't.

Remember when Illinois State started the year 14-0, and Champ Oguchi bragged to the Chicago Tribune that the Redbirds were going to go undefeated all season -- including March? After knocking Creighton into next month in mid-January, it looked like his ridiculous claim was slightly less ridiculous. The Redbirds hadn't played as complete a game as that since, and tripped up enough to fall all the way to third place. Including Saturday's loss, they're just 8-8 since that 14-0 start.

They were a team spiraling downward until Saturday, when like clockwork, the Redbirds suddenly looked a lot like the team that started the year undefeated and led the outspoken Oguchi to make his ludicrous claim. This just four nights removed from a disheartening, stunning double-overtime loss to Northern Iowa on Senior Night that eliminated them from a chance at the league title. I wonder why that is?
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #31: Jays 74, Illinois State 70.

2008-09 Game #30: Jays 64, Missouri State 59

By
Max Univers
on February 24, 2009 11:20 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Well, the Jays certainly pulled that one out of their nether regions, didn't they? Ah, but its late February, when results matter more than how you get them. Its Machiavelli crossed with Al Davis, in a way; the ends justify the means. I don't care how you win, just win, baby.

That's all nice and good in theory, but I've got a litany of new clever smack-talk phrases that beg to differ. Like all creative endeavours, there's no off and on switch on the smack talk, and my best stuff comes out when I'm cheering on during either a blowout loss or a tight game. Ask any of my college roommates from years ago; they used to make me sit and watch them play Madden 64 because they knew it would piss me off, I'd start talking smack, and they'd get some cheap laughs.

For some reason, I yelled out "What's the Frequency, Kenneth? 96.Awesome!" after Kenny (Kenneth) Lawson's second block in as many possessions. I also at one point or another told a lustily-booing MSU crowd to "Get some facts, and come and see me!", although the facts I had in mind were more easily defensible than Jim Calhoun's. I sang the Casey's General Store commercial jingle after Casey Harriman's last two three's; "Casey's its all good!". To say I was excited is an understatement. At one point or another during the depressing first half, I lamented the fact that I had picked the wrong week to stop:

Smoking
Drinking
Sniffing glue
Taking amphetamines

By the ten minute mark of the second half, I was out of vices that I'd picked the wrong week to stop associating with, so I was quite relieved that the Jays decided to play better. Tell your old man that it gets tiring dragging Walton up and down the court for 48 minutes a night!

Based on the notebook pages of new material I got last night, the means did matter, at least to me. Coming out lethargic and with no energy, the Jays turned in one of the worst halves of basketball they've played all season long against the last place team in the league. In a game they HAD to have to stay in the race for the league championship, they came out flat. As late as 8:25 PM, things looked awfully bleak. Ten minutes of inspired ball, jump-started by Kaleb Korver knocking a ball loose, diving on the floor and in the process getting fouled was the catalyst for a comeback.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #30: Jays 64, Missouri State 59.

2008-09 Game #29: Jays 76, George Mason 63

By
Max Univers
on February 22, 2009 5:32 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Publicly, I predicted a win for the Jays in my Gameday post, but privately, I had concerns about this game. George Mason likes to play a slow, half-court game with scores in the high 50s and low 60s; Creighton, as we all know, likes to play up-tempo, the higher the score the better. Why is this a concern, you ask? Doesn't this kind of clash-of-styles happen all the time?

Well, yeah, except George Mason and their excellent coach, Jim Larranaga, have been relatively adept at forcing tempo on their opponents from what I've seen -- and a half-court game favors the team that rebounds better and plays better defense. Neither of those characteristics have generally favored the Jays this year, current win streak aside.

I needn't have worried. As has become the norm with Saturday night games, the crowd was rambunctious, boisterous and had an alcohol-fueled aggression ten minutes before tip off, traits which continued for the duration of the night. You could sense it when you walked into the building. You could sense it during starting lineups. And you couldn't mistake it during the first four minutes of the game: there was a different vibe, a different energy in the building, and not just in the stands.

The ESPNU commentators commented in the first minutes of the game that the atmosphere was as good as any they'd seen, that the crowd was in on every play -- and that George Mason would have to adjust because it was going to be a huge factor. Love it. Polyfro props to everyone in the building who contributed to that.

Continue reading 2008-09 Game #29: Jays 76, George Mason 63.

2008-09 Game #28: Jays 89, Evansville 84

By
Max Univers
on February 18, 2009 12:09 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
In which the Jays almost succumb to the first of two Booby Trap Games...

My first indication that Tuesday's game was going to have a saucy finish should have come around 6:37 PM CST. Waiting in line for my usual pregame ritual of Chicken Tenders, Fries and Pabst Blue Ribbon, the concessionaire asked me a startling question: would I like to try the new hot wing sauce? Yes, yes I would! As anyone who's seen the latest photos on my Facebook page can attest, I do like the hot wings. Combining my two favorite culinary things during the winter months -- chicken tenders at a Jays game AND hot wing sauce -- well, that's just a dangerous combination. I tore into the opportunity with reckless abandon.

Incidentally, props to the geniuses at the cheap beer stand who made the decision to pull the PBR tap and go back to cans. Cans equal bigger glasses equal a happier stomach for Max Univers. See, back in the first years of the Qwest, the cheap beer stand had PBR, Schlitz, Old Style, Falstaff and Old Milwaukee...two cans for $5. The signage read "Free Beer Tomorrow", although tomorrow never came. Then after a couple of years, the price went to $6 when sales were cutting into the numbers of the more, ahem, mainstream beers. This year, the cans went away, the taps went in, the glasses got smaller (20 oz instead of 24) and the price stayed at $6, although the signage now read "$7", with the 7 crossed out and replaced by a 6. People who don't go to every game ever would think, hey, we're saving a buck! Yay! But I know better. My buddy G. Clarke and I were pleased to see the return both of cans and of larger glasses.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #28: Jays 89, Evansville 84.

2008-09 Game #27: Jays 82, Southern Illinois 60

By
Max Univers
on February 15, 2009 11:16 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Epic games against your biggest rival tend to be remembered by name. (Yes, I give names to games. Shut up.) Some examples of CU-SIU games I've named over the past several years:

The Mike "Ratface" Sanzere Game

The CU-SIU game on Super Bowl Sunday in 2002 where Kent F'n Williams made two of three free throws with .4 seconds left in a tie game after a B.S. foul on DeAnthony Bowden.

A Can O'Whoop Ass

The 2003 MVC Championship Game. That's really all I have to say, isn't it? Maybe I could add the score just to rub it in further: 80-56. If I ever get a tattoo, that might be incorporated into it. 80-56.

The Kyle Korver Game

Oh, sure, Kyle had dozens of great games, but at least in front of the home fans, there's really only one Game, capitalized. January 18, 2003. Trailing in the second half in front of a crowd that exceeded the arena's capacity by over 1000 bodies and a national audience on ESPN, #13 Creighton staged a raucous comeback. Korver hit 3 three pointers in a 56-second span -- you might not remember it because you were screaming so loudly -- to give the Jays a lead they would not relinquish. Oh, and Korver had a double-double with 24 pounds and 11 boards. That's how you get a game named after you.

The Bryan "F.U." Mullins Game

Bryan Mullins hits a runner with 4 seconds left to silence 17,500 at the Qwest Center in 2007. That's also how you get a game named after you. Its also how you get the initials for a phrase you wouldn't utter in the company of your mother or a priest attached to your name.

Today We Spell Redemption J A Y S

Paraphrasing one of my favorite underrated quotes from Anchorman, the Jays finally beat the Salukis after way too many losses in a row. The 72-53 rout on February 10, 2008 was joyous.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have another game to add to the pantheon. After the jump, I give a name to a worthy addition to the group.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #27: Jays 82, Southern Illinois 60.

2008-09 Game #26: Jays 79, Bradley 65

By
Max Univers
on February 12, 2009 7:18 AM | | TrackBacks (0)
Wednesday was the consummate trap game. The Jays were coming off of two huge road wins, one over the defending conference champ and the other over the current leader which was on an 11-game winning streak. The game was the tweener game before the Valentines Day, ESPN televised rivalry week tilt against Southern Illinois. Even for the best teams, that's a potential recipe for disaster. That's the kind of game where teams show up too lackadaisical, hope the home crowd can give them an assist, and escape with a victory.

All of that would be trouble enough if not for Bradley entering the game licking its wounds after getting destroyed four days earlier and remembering the hurt Creighton put on them in front of a sold-out crowd in January. Unfortunately, nothing in the first 30 minutes of the game did anything to dissuade me from feeling my sad prophecy was coming true. I don't want to be Nostradamus. Nostradamus is a douchebag who says the world is going to end in 2012. But when you're coughing up multiple 10+ point leads at home, when you're allowing a half-court buzzer beater to be taken much less made, when you're expecting us to be entertained at halftime by a vaudeville reject from 1855 rolling around the court in a giant hamster wheel...

Trap game.

I'm glad to report that somewhere in the last ten minutes of the game, the Jays were tougher, stronger and wanted the game more than Bradley. On a night when they didn't shoot particularly well, rebounded basically even with the other team and were stuck in neutral most of the night offensively, they found a way to win by 14.

The toughness I'm talking about was epitomized by Kaleb Korver, who in a 30-second span showed anyone who cared to watch that the Jays of February are not the same Jays as December and January. After prying the ball loose, he dove on the floor with a Bradley player, attacking the ball and physically forcing a jump ball. On the ensuing possession, he had one the prettiest hesitation moves and drives to the basket that you'll ever see. The arena exploded. The bench exploded. Bradley called timeout to settle things down. THIS is Creighton basketball.
Continue reading 2008-09 Game #26: Jays 79, Bradley 65.
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Max Univers (not his real name) is a graphic designer and author of two books, neither of which you’ve probably heard of. A 2001 graduate of Creighton University’s Journalism program, Max takes time out of his busy nightlife to share his thoughts on Jays hoops here during the season.

Why Univers? Its his favorite font, plus it just sounds really cool as a surname.

Why Polyfro? Years and years ago, Max had a giant afro wig that he wore as part of a Halloween costume. Not wishing to retire its giant fro awesomeness after the holiday, he began wearing the wig out in public as part of his everyday ensemble. One night at a dance club, the DJ called out the moniker over the soundsystem. Max thought it sounded cool, and purchased the URL shortly thereafter.

More questions? Send me an email: max-at-polyfro-dot-com. I like jokes, story tips, and generally all correspondence involving Bluejay athletics. Emails that point out how stupid I am and/or where I should go after I die are not encouraged.

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This page is a archive of recent entries in the 2008-09 Game Recaps category.

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