• No. 10 Creighton (6-0) meets No. 14 Arizona (5-0) in a top-15 battle at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. Central (12 p.m. Hawaiian). The Lahaina Civic Center will host the action.
• The game can be watched on ESPN and WatchESPN.com, with Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman on the call. The game can be heard on 1620 The Zone and 101.9 The Keg, with John Bishop on the call. Live stats for the game can be found at http://Maui.StatBroadcast.com.
• Due to the BIG EAST's partnership with Fox Sports, Creighton doesn't play a ton of games on the ESPN family of networks.
From 2008-09 to 2021-22, Creighton had five total games on ESPN (not ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNNEWS), with the only two of those wins coming in the 2016 NIT (vs. Alabama and Wagner). That number will grow rather quickly, as the Jays will play a second straight day on ESPN on Wednesday and next Thursday's contest at Texas will also air on the mothership.
Tuesday's win vs. No. 9 Arkansas was Creighton's first victory on ESPN since Feb. 18, 2006, a 67-62 win over Fresno State in a BracketBusters game that tipped at 11:02 p.m. Central.
By comparison, Creighton has appeared on FS1 162 times (winning 113) since the network started in 2013 and 24 times on 'big' FOX (winning 9) since 2015-16.
Though they're not on the Worldwide Leader much, all but six of Creighton's last 202 games have been televised (3 games each in the Cayman Islands Classic and the 2021 Paradise Jam).
• Creighton and Arizona have split two previous meetings, but it's been more than 40 years since the clubs have met on the hardwood.
Arizona defeated CU 72-63 on Jan. 16, 1969. The first meeting came way back on Dec. 16, 1967 when Creighton won a 70-66 decision in Omaha.
Greg McDermott has never coached against Arizona, but is 9-4 as Creighton coach against the Pac-12.
• There's not much in common between the Creighton and Arizona programs.
Former Creighton assistant men's basketball coach and current Diversity and Inclusion Officer Len Gordy played for Arizona from 1973-77 and then served as an assistant coach at his alma mater for six years under Fred Snowden. Gordy has been employed at Creighton since 1994.
Forward Arthur Kaluma finished high school at Dream City Christian in Glendale, Ariz.
• Creighton's starting line-up has played 334:49 minutes in Maui, compared to 65:11 from its bench.
Arizona has utilized its starters for 290:30, compared to 109:30 from its reserve corps.
• Creighton is making its first Maui Jim Maui Invitational appearance in program history and seeking its sixth MTE title in 12 events under Greg McDermott. CU has won the 2010 Hy-Vee Challenge, the 2011 Dale Howard Classic, the 2012 Las Vegas Invite, the 2015 MGM Grand Main Event, the 2015 Paradise Jam and the 2018 Cayman Islands Classic.
Creighton is now 36-7 under McDermott in MTE's after Tuesday's victory vs. Arkansas.
• Legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire once said that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. The Bluejay trio of Arthur Kaluma, Trey Alexander and Ryan Nembhard were all part of the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team last season, and all three are off to fantastic starts as sophomores.
The trio combined for 51 points in Monday's win vs. Texas Tech on 17-of-27 shooting from the floor, including 6-of-9 marksmanship from deep, and 11-of-13 shooting at the line.
Yesterday, those three men combined for 46 points. sinking 14-of-26 shots and 3-of-5 three-pointers.
• Monday's win vs. No. 21 Texas Tech marked the ninth straight season the Jays have recorded at least one top-25 win. Tuesday's win means Creighton has beaten multiple ranked foes for an eighth straight season.
Creighton is now 49-157 all-time against top-25 clubs, and 12-31 on neutral floors.
Creighton is 15-15 all-time when both teams are ranked in the top-25.
Greg McDermott is 31-42 as Creighton's coach against top-25 teams, compared to a 18-115 mark by all other Creighton coaches. McDermott is 12-19 as CU's coach against top-10 foes, compared to a 5-51 mark before his arrival.
• Prior to the last two days, Creighton had never beaten ranked teams on back-to-back days.
Needless to say, that also means Creighton can beat ranked teams on back-to-back-to-back days for the first time with a win vs. No. 14 Arizona on Wednesday.
Creighton has never played three consecutive games against ranked teams and won all three, something else it can accomplish on Wednesday vs. No. 14 Arizona.
• Creighton is shooting 52.0 percent from the field this season, including a 56.9 percent mark in Maui. Since Greg McDermott's hiring in 2010, Creighton's 47.8 percent marksmanship is the nation's fourth-best figure, trailing only Gonzaga (50.6), Belmont (48.4) and Kansas (47.9).
Likewise, Creighton's 177 games shooting 50 percent or better since 2010 trails only Gonzaga (247), Belmont (183) and Kansas (182). Tuesday marked Creighton's fifth straight game in which the Jays have shot 50 percent or better.
• Creighton has made 135-of-219 two-point attempts this season, good for 61.6 percent.
Arizona has made a nation-leading 62.1 percent of all field goal attempts this fall, and is shooting 139-for-287 (74.3 percent) from two-point range.
Since the start of last season, Arizona owns the nation's best 2-point field goal percentage defense (.417) while Creighton is seventh (.435).
• All five Creighton starters are averaging 11.5 points per game, a good sign since the Jays have won 26 games in a row when five men score 10+.
Last season marked the first time since 1964-65 that five Bluejays finished the season averaging in double-figures.
• Creighton had eight dunks on Tuesday vs. Arkansas and now owns 29 on the season. Six of the slams came from Ryan Kalkbrenner, while Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Nembhard had one each.
Kalkbrenner leads the club with 17 dunks this year.
• Monday's win was Greg McDermott's 562nd of his head coaching career. That ranks 20th-most among active coaches, and more than any other coach at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
Tuesday's win marks the first time he can say that more than half of his career victories have come at Creighton, as it was his 282nd on the Bluejay sideline.
• Creighton is 5-0 all-time as a ranked team when playing a team from the Pac-12 Conference.
No. 14 Creighton beat Arizona State on Nov. 24, 2012 (87-73 in Las Vegas, Nev.).
No. 16 Creighton beat California on Dec. 15, 2012 (74-64 in Berkeley, Calif).
No. 20 Creighton beat Arizona State on Nov. 28, 2013 (88-60 in Fullerton, Calif.).
No. 22 Creighton beat Washington State on Nov. 18, 2016 (103-77 in the U.S. Virgin Islands).
No. 9 Creighton beat Arizona State on Dec. 20, 2016 (96-85 in Tempe).
• Creighton had three men score 20 or more points in Tuesday's win, as Ryan Nembhard (25), Ryan Kalkbrenner (21) and Baylor Scheierman (20) all did it.
It was the first time that Creighton has had three men score 20 points in the same game since Doug McDermott (31), Antoine Young (22) and Josh Jones (21) did it vs. Davidson on March 21, 2011 in a CBI contest.
• Creighton is seeking its first 7-0 start since opening the 2016-17 campaign with a 13-0 record. Creighton also started 7-0 in 2011-12 under Greg McDermott.
• Creighton is the nation's only school with multiple top-25 wins in both men's basketball and women's basketball this winter. The 16th-ranked Bluejay women, coached by former CU men's basketball walk-on Jim Flanery, are 5-0 with top-25 wins over No. 23 South Dakota State and No. 22 Nebraska. Flanery coached the team to its first Elite Eight last March.
They're not the only successful programs on campus, as the men's soccer team plays in the Sweet 16 on Saturday night at Tulsa (on ESPN+) while the 15th-ranked women's volleyball team won its ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and hosts the BIG EAST Tournament starting later today in Omaha.
• Last night improved Greg McDermott's Division I teams to 76-4 all-time when scoring 90 or more points.
His Northern Iowa teams scored 90+ points just twice in 153 games from 2001-06, and four times total from 2006-10 at Iowa State in 127 contests.
At Creighton, McDermott's charges have scored 90 or more points 74 times in 419 games. The only teams with more 90 point games since the start of 2010-11 are Gonzaga (115), North Carolina (96), BYU (81), Belmont (79), Duke (78) and Marshall (75). Arizona is tied for ninth on that list (70).
• Ryan Nembhard had a career-high 25 points on Tuesday vs. Arkansas and added six rebounds and five assists.
Since Greg McDermott was hired in 2010, the only Bluejays with a 20/5/5 game have been Ryan Nembhard (2), Ryan Hawkins (1), Mitch Ballock (1), Marcus Foster (3), Grant Gibbs (1), Doug McDermott (2), Khyri Thomas (2), Maurice Watson Jr. (2) and Marcus Zegarowski (3).
Among players with a 25/5/5 game under Greg McDermott, only Watson, Doug McDermott (2), Foster (2), Zegarowski and Hawkins had done so prior to Nembhard
• Creighton will look to limit an Arizona team that leads the nation in scoring at over 100 points per game.
Creighton is 2-38 all-time when allowing 100 points, and hasn't done so in regulation since a 103-92 loss to No. 1 Gonzaga in 2018, which came roughly a week after the Bulldogs won the Maui Invitational title. Current Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was an assistant for the Zags that year.
Last year Creighton's defense ranked 19th in the final KenPom rankings. This year's team is ranked 42nd defensively.
Both teams in the title tilt boast top-10 offenses through Tuesday. Arizona is third per KenPom while Creighton is eighth.
• This year's Maui Jim Maui Invitational field boasts eight programs with a combined 243 NCAA Tournament appearances, 36 Final Four berths, eight NCAA titles. Five of the eight teams were ranked, while Ohio State was getting votes, giving credence to the thought that this was one of the event's deepest fields ever.
• Did you know...Seven past Maui Jim Maui Invitational participants have gone on to win the national championship after competing in Maui earlier in the season.
• After running the gauntlet with three top-25 teams in a span of 52 hours this week, Creighton won't play again until next Thursday but it's an equally tough match-up as it plays at No. 4 Texas at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Original source can be found here.
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