Creighton aims for a fifth straight win when it comes back to the comforts of home to play host to struggling Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Neb.
The Bluejays (13-6, 6-2 Big East) are tied for third in the conference with No. 19 UConn and coming off a lopsided 73-49 road win over DePaul on Tuesday, when Jamiya Neal scored 14 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 13 with eight rebounds.
Kalkbrenner is shooting 65.2 percent from the floor and scoring 17.4 points per game, just above his 17.3 mark from last season. Steven Ashworth is shooting 35.1 percent from 3-point range and scoring 16.6 ppg, while transfer Neal, an Arizona State transfer, is scoring 11.8 ppg.
“Four of the last five have been on the road and, in this league, the road is a bear,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “We found a way to win four out of five of those and we had chances at Marquette in the last five minutes. … Every one of these games from here on out is very important as we chase the Big East championship and hopefully an NCAA Tournament bid.”
Seton Hall (6-13, 1-7) has lost nine of its last 10 and was clobbered Tuesday by No. 10 Marquette, 76-59. The Pirates committed 24 turnovers, their second-most in three years under coach Shaheen Holloway.
The Pirates were without starting guard combination Dylan Addae-Wusu (foot) and Chaunce Jenkins (hamstring) and are down to 10 healthy scholarship players.
Sophomore wing Isaiah Coleman has been the Pirates’ most consistent offensive threat. He had a career-high 27 points against Marquette and is scoring a team-best 15.8 points per game.
“It was good to see him do that,” Holloway said. “Isaiah is getting better, but he’s got to do other things as well. Isaiah rebounding the basketball is good, and now we’ve got to get him playmaking. You start doing that, then teams can’t concentrate on you as much.”
And Coleman is expected to have increased responsibilities on Saturday.
“I’m not sure we’re getting those two guys (Addae-Wusu and Jenkins) back,” Holloway said.
Creighton has won the last four meetings between the programs and eight of the last 10. Seton Hall still leads the overall series 16-14.
–Field Level Media
