In what has been a painful week on the court for Oregon and Creighton, one of these teams will leave Las Vegas with at least one thing worth savoring.
The teams meet Thursday in the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas. They’ve had a day to reflect in Sin City after suffering losses on Monday and Tuesday.
The Bluejays (3-3) are trying to avoid a three-game losing streak, something they also experienced in nonconference play last November. After suffering a 7-point loss to Baylor on Monday, Creighton fell 78-60 to No. 15 Iowa State on Tuesday.
“That responsibility falls on me to try to figure it out,” said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. “We’ve got plenty of work to do. We knew that.
“There hasn’t been much of a positive light,” McDermott added. “My substitution pattern is a little erratic, which is a sign of me searching for the right combination. … I’m still in the fact-finding period of that.”
The Ducks (4-2) has floundered in this event that they won last year when it was an eight-team deal. After taking an 11-point loss to No. 21 Auburn on Monday, they responded with an 97-80 setback on Tuesday to San Diego State — a team that had lost by 40 to another Big Ten school (Michigan) the day before.
“They had more energy than we did a lot of that game from the easy baskets that we gave up, but very disappointed in our defensive effort,” Ducks coach Dana Altman said after watching the Aztecs shooting 67.2% (39 of 58) from the field.
That’s the highest mark for an Oregon opponent since Altman became the coach in 2010.
Altman’s disgust might be evident by reports that he skipped his normal postgame radio interview.
Altman was at Creighton for 16 seasons before jumping to Oregon. The teams met in the 2024 NCAA Tournament with Creighton prevailing 86-73 in double overtime in Pittsburgh.
The connections between Altman and McDermott run deep in that McDermott, now in his 16th season, is the winningest Creighton coach with 353 victories and Altman is next on the list with 327.
Jackson Shelstad, who missed the first game of the season with a broken hand, has scored at least 20 points in three Oregon games. He leads the team with 17.0 points and 5.2 assists per game. Nate Bittle (16.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Takai Simpkins (13.5 ppg) and Kwame Evans Jr. (11.0 ppg) have started every game.
For Creighton, it’s a chance for senior guard Nik Graves to start another streak regarding free throws. The Charlotte transfer had made at least one foul shot in 63 consecutive games until going without an attempt in 22 minutes Tuesday.
Iowa transfer Josh Dix is the Bluejays’ top scorer with a 12.3 average in six games, but he’s shooting 31.3% on 3-point attempts. He hit 41.9% during his three years with the Hawkeyes.
