Tweet
**TOP RATED COMP PLAY ON:
Creighton +1.5
The Bluejays are one of the hottest teams in the country entering the NCAAs, winning eight straight, including the MVC tournament title...and has some serious momentum on their side...WV also on a slight run, but they may have shot their load in the Big East Tourney, just to get here..
This game matches up two teams who like to shoot the long ball and has been rather absent on the rebounding end, as both their rankings in Rebounding Margin for their conferences can atest to....So with the winner from this one likely to be the team who is a better around the perimeter, lets look at some of the stats which I see favoring the Hot Jayhawks today...
On the season, Creighton is hitting 41.5% from beyond the Arc...while WV is hitting 34.8%....On the Road this year, Creighton has hit 40%...while WV has hit just 37% away from home....In the last 5 games played, Creighton was on Fire draining 43.8% of their shots from downtown....whereas, WV hit 40% in this span....Creighton is ranked 1st in the Missouri Valley conference with their average of 8.5 three pointers made per game....and WV is ranked last in the Big East Conf at 3pt FG% Defense...Not good!
The Bluejays are led by their trio of sharp shooting guards in Jr Funk, who is averages 17.6 ppg and 5.0 rpg...and is a First-Team All-MVC selection, and is considered one of the most dangerous shooters in the country with his 47% average from behind the Arc......His partner in crime is fellow perimeter star Jr G Mathies, who is averaging 11.6 ppg on 42.9 % shooting from behind the arc...Mathies is also pulling down 2.8 rpg and dishing out 2.2 apg, but it has been his play over the last month that has allowed the Bluejays to reach the tournament.....Rounding the trio off is Sr G McKinney, who doesnt have the numbers like Funk and Mathies has, but what he is just as or more so important, in that he leads the team in assist with his +5 per game average....Still though, you cant forget the sharp shooters coming off the bench as well....especially in Sr G Millner, who is averaging almost double digit scoring with 9.5 ppg, and is shooting 38% from behind the Arc and averages 1.7 three's per game off the bench....
Creighton is definately a guard-based team, with Tyler McKinney, Nate Funk and Mathies providing much of the team's scoring output.....But lately, the big men have emerged, especially on the defensive end, to give Creighton even more balance to this attack.
WV also likes to live by the long ball, as they, like the Bluejays are not that dominating on the boards...But, the problem for the Mountaineers is that when they go cold from the perimeter, they have a hard time scoring...and their bench, besides G Berlein is the only one adding any real production if any...This is one reason, why the Mountaineers has struggled before their run in the Big East Tourney....Still, this team is a streaky team and that makes them not a good side to back up going into this game vs a consistant Hot shooting team in Creighton....WV's Forwards Tyrone Salley and Mike Gansey are good solid players, but they will again be giving up a lot of size with them standing only 6-7 and 6-4...Thus with Creighton's big guys playing solidly down the stretch, I have to like there balanced attack to be more effective then the Mountaineers will be today...
Creighton's Coach Altman, has been in this position before and that should help him get this team up and ready to play tough tournament ball like they have been known to do in this Underdog role....One other thing also, which may go against this WV team is the fact that they expended all their energies in the Big East tournament just to get here today..and sometimes its hard for players to get up to match that level they had to be at, facing some of the nations best teams, ie, Nova, BC, Cuse...and have to be able to do it again against a lower Mid Level opponent like the Bluejays are....This is what I am expecting them to do today, and that may spell a Big Creighton upset...GL and Aloha CC.
*please disregard any typos or grammatical errors, as I didnt have time to edit this write-up...Thxs.
Creighton +1.5
The Bluejays are one of the hottest teams in the country entering the NCAAs, winning eight straight, including the MVC tournament title...and has some serious momentum on their side...WV also on a slight run, but they may have shot their load in the Big East Tourney, just to get here..
This game matches up two teams who like to shoot the long ball and has been rather absent on the rebounding end, as both their rankings in Rebounding Margin for their conferences can atest to....So with the winner from this one likely to be the team who is a better around the perimeter, lets look at some of the stats which I see favoring the Hot Jayhawks today...
On the season, Creighton is hitting 41.5% from beyond the Arc...while WV is hitting 34.8%....On the Road this year, Creighton has hit 40%...while WV has hit just 37% away from home....In the last 5 games played, Creighton was on Fire draining 43.8% of their shots from downtown....whereas, WV hit 40% in this span....Creighton is ranked 1st in the Missouri Valley conference with their average of 8.5 three pointers made per game....and WV is ranked last in the Big East Conf at 3pt FG% Defense...Not good!
The Bluejays are led by their trio of sharp shooting guards in Jr Funk, who is averages 17.6 ppg and 5.0 rpg...and is a First-Team All-MVC selection, and is considered one of the most dangerous shooters in the country with his 47% average from behind the Arc......His partner in crime is fellow perimeter star Jr G Mathies, who is averaging 11.6 ppg on 42.9 % shooting from behind the arc...Mathies is also pulling down 2.8 rpg and dishing out 2.2 apg, but it has been his play over the last month that has allowed the Bluejays to reach the tournament.....Rounding the trio off is Sr G McKinney, who doesnt have the numbers like Funk and Mathies has, but what he is just as or more so important, in that he leads the team in assist with his +5 per game average....Still though, you cant forget the sharp shooters coming off the bench as well....especially in Sr G Millner, who is averaging almost double digit scoring with 9.5 ppg, and is shooting 38% from behind the Arc and averages 1.7 three's per game off the bench....
Creighton is definately a guard-based team, with Tyler McKinney, Nate Funk and Mathies providing much of the team's scoring output.....But lately, the big men have emerged, especially on the defensive end, to give Creighton even more balance to this attack.
WV also likes to live by the long ball, as they, like the Bluejays are not that dominating on the boards...But, the problem for the Mountaineers is that when they go cold from the perimeter, they have a hard time scoring...and their bench, besides G Berlein is the only one adding any real production if any...This is one reason, why the Mountaineers has struggled before their run in the Big East Tourney....Still, this team is a streaky team and that makes them not a good side to back up going into this game vs a consistant Hot shooting team in Creighton....WV's Forwards Tyrone Salley and Mike Gansey are good solid players, but they will again be giving up a lot of size with them standing only 6-7 and 6-4...Thus with Creighton's big guys playing solidly down the stretch, I have to like there balanced attack to be more effective then the Mountaineers will be today...
Creighton's Coach Altman, has been in this position before and that should help him get this team up and ready to play tough tournament ball like they have been known to do in this Underdog role....One other thing also, which may go against this WV team is the fact that they expended all their energies in the Big East tournament just to get here today..and sometimes its hard for players to get up to match that level they had to be at, facing some of the nations best teams, ie, Nova, BC, Cuse...and have to be able to do it again against a lower Mid Level opponent like the Bluejays are....This is what I am expecting them to do today, and that may spell a Big Creighton upset...GL and Aloha CC.
*please disregard any typos or grammatical errors, as I didnt have time to edit this write-up...Thxs.
Comment