Scott Drew and Greg McDermott are learning a few things about their teams in an early sampling of nonconference games.
A trip to Las Vegas will provide further educational opportunities for both teams Monday afternoon when Baylor faces Creighton in the Players Era men’s championship.
After an early-season win over Washington, Baylor (3-0) will face two more major conference opponents when it challenges Creighton and No. 14 St. John’s in the first two games. The 18-team event features nine ranked teams and provides at least $1 million toward each school’s NIL fund.
“This is definitely unique and since NIL and the portal I know has attracted a lot of great teams,” Drew said last week. “Coaches and programs always want to put players in the best opportunity to improve, get better and this tournament, what’s so great about it is there are no bad losses, and you get a chance to play against teams that if you’re blessed enough to be in (the) postseason, they’re going to be there.”
Baylor heads to Las Vegas after over a week off since its 94-81 home win over Tarleton State. Its second game with at least 90 points featured another big game from Cameron Carr, who played limited minutes at Tennessee.
Carr is averaging 23.7 points and scored 27 on Nov. 14 while hitting 10 of 13 shots.
Creighton (3-1) also will face No.16 Iowa State in its second game of this event and will be without Jackson McAndrew due to a season-ending foot injury.
The Bluejays are in this event for the second straight season after beating Notre Dame in the seventh-place game following losses to San Diego State and Texas A&M.
Creighton won its final two tuneups for Las Vegas by following up its 90-63 loss to No. 13 Gonzaga on Nov. 11 with a 39-point win over Maryland Eastern Shore and a 75-60 victory over North Dakota on Wednesday.
Blake Harper led the team in scoring for the third straight game by scoring 15 of his 19 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers in a 14-0 run. Josh Dix added 16, Owen Freeman contributed 13 and Hudson Greer got seven rebounds in his collegiate debut.
“It’s how you learn about your team,” McDermott said. “We certainly learned things Friday and tonight but we learned a lot from Gonzaga even in the loss and we’re going to learn a lot but it’s going to teach us you don’t have time to hang your head regardless of what happens or you don’t have time to celebrate much because you’re going to turn around and play 24 hours later.”
