Basketball
Creighton Basketball: The Team To Beat In 2012?
On Saturday, January 28th, the Creighton University Bluejays savored their 20th win of the season against the Bradley University Braves with a score of 73-59 win. Creighton basketball has been on fire throughout the 2011-12 season, losing only twice all year. As it continues to dominate, Creighton is looking more and more like the team to beat in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“They’ve been doing really well,” says Dr. Roger Roubal, a TMJ dentist in Omaha. “They’ve been picked to win in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, they’ve got some new people in this year. We go down to the games when we can and we’re trying to find tickets for the Missouri Valley Conference in St. Louis in March.”
The Missouri Valley Conference includes colleges from all over the Midwest including some from Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Creighton’s 10-1 record in conference play gives it a full one-game lead over second place Wichita State, and its 20-2 overall mark puts the team in a great position to potentially land a birth in the NCAA Tournament.
Experienced Weapons
McDermott looking fired up after a play.
The Creighton Bluejays can credit their amazing season to great coaching and key players – both new and old – that have made the team the current conference front-runner.
“The whole team is much better,” says Dr. Roubal. “Not only do they have new people, but the people that were on board have much more experience than before, like the coach’s son McDermott who played in a tournament team and gained a lot of good experience. Also Echenique from Venezuela who played for a team down there and has a lot of experience to contribute to the team.”
Doug McDermott is currently a sophomore at Creighton University and plays forward on the team. This past summer, he was one of twelve players representing USA Basketball at the U19 FIBA World Championships in Latvia and earned fifth place along with the rest of Team USA at 7-2. McDermott ranked third on the team in scoring and rebounding and started in all nine games of pool and tournament play. This tremendous experience may be a huge contributing factor to McDermott’s current success and Creighton’s winning streak. The coach’s son also wowed the MVC last season by scoring the most points as a freshman, as well as the most points as a newcomer in Creighton history.
Creighton’s Gregory Echenique battling for a board during the second half of Creighton’s win over Wichita State.
Creighton can also thank Gregory Echenique of Venezuela for its amazing success. Echenique spent this past summer as starting center for the Venezuelan national team. It placed fifth in the FIBA Americas tournament and the team will play in an Olympic qualifier this coming spring. Last season, Echenique was named to the MVC All-Newcomer team and the MVC All-Defensive team. His previous experience in Venezuela and last year’s run have certainly given him an edge this season and helped Creighton rack up win after win on its way to first place in its conference.
Although the Bluejays lean heavily on returning starters, they can also thank key contributions from some wonderful newcomers that make the team both diverse and experienced. Creighton welcomed Austin Chatman of Texas this year, whose high school resume includes being named UIL District 5-4A co-offensive player of the year and all-region as a junior. Sophomore Jahenns Manigat brings his game from his freshman year, when he was named to the MVC’s All-Freshman Team and All-Bench Team and ranked third in the league in MVC games in three point percentage at 47.5 percent. These college athletes are working hard and scoring big in each game and it’s a real possibility that they will win the Missouri Valley Conference in March and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament the following week.
Shanna Laub writes for Off-Topic Media. Photo by Techcollector. Special thanks to Dr. Roger Roubal for taking time to speak with us. Dr. Roubal can be reached at his practice in Omaha at:
Advanced Dentistry
11919 Grant St. Suite 140
Omaha, NE 68164
402.493.4175
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Tagged basketball, college basketball, creighton bluejays, doug mcdermott, featured, gregory echenique
