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No. 3 seed, Midwest Region
Opponent, time, TV: Akron, 1:30 p.m., TNT
Team in 16 words: Creighton’s rep? A team that “lets it fly” — but the Bluejays are a stalwart defensive outfit.
Record: 23-9 (14-6 Big East)
Coach: Greg McDermott (9-11 in NCAA Tournament)
Player to watch: Baylor Scheierman (first-team All-Big East)
Numbers:
BetMGM title odds: +3000
Sweet 16 projected chance: 52.8 percent
Final Four projected chance: 9.1 percent
Strengths: It starts with Ryan Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot-1 anchor who is a three-time reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year. The Jays are exceptional at running opposing shooters off the 3-point line and funneling them into the big fella at the rim. Their opponents had the highest percentage of shots from 2-point range in college hoops this season — and the Jays are elite at defending from that range. Greg McDermott has shooters galore, from Steven Ashworth to Baylor Scheierman to Trey Alexander. All three are elite catch-and-shoot threats.
Weaknesses: There are two major concerns with this team. The first is that they lack a truly explosive creator. There aren’t many coaches better than McDermott at scheming his team shots with the sets that he runs, but on nights when a defense can take the Bluejays out of what they want to run, they don’t have a guy who can go get a shot on his own. The other issue is that Creighton really goes about four deep. Francisco Farabello, Mason Miller and Isaac Traudt are fine when it comes to being shooters and floor-spacers, but there’s not much else that they bring.
Outlook: I am higher than the field on this Creighton team. I’m less concerned with their lack of depth than others because Creighton is sensational when it comes to avoiding fouls. That, combined with the longer TV timeouts in the NCAA Tournament, makes the depth issues far less of a concern. They have one of the five best big men in America, Scheierman has been on an incredible run the last six weeks and the Jays are a nightmare to prepare for on short notice.
— Rob Dauster
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