Jefferson, Creighton affirm themselves as contenders in rout of St. John’s

 

Damien Jefferson and Creighton showed long-term potential with commanding win Thursday over St. John’s. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — To the untrained eye and casual fan, it would appear that this season’s Big East Conference race would consist of Villanova, a significant stretch of open road, and everyone else.

One of the “everyone else” contingent has something to say about that, and despite its westernmost location, this program has been a factor in almost every year of its Big East affiliation since joining the league in 2013 and nearly winning it months later.

The Creighton Bluejays are 5-2 after Thursday’s 94-76 drubbing of St. John’s, an encouraging performance considering the Omaha outfit came in on the heels of a loss to a Marquette team projected to finish in the middle of the Big East standings. On this night at Carnesecca Arena — where Creighton was defeated in a hail of 3-pointers by St. John’s Greg Williams nine months ago — however, the Bluejays played more befitting of a team ranked ninth in the country, using a game of precision, fundamentals and efficiency to turn the tables on one of the more bipolar teams in the league by speeding the young Red Storm up and getting everyone involved at a rate that proved too difficult for the hosts to match.

“It goes without saying, I was thrilled at the start of the game,” head coach Greg McDermott remarked after five of his players scored 10 or more points while collectively shooting over 56 percent from the floor — nearly 70 percent after halftime — and owning a plus-18 rebounding margin. “When you come off a loss like we did against Marquette, you hope your team will respond, and I felt like we responded in practice, and obviously, the preparation carried over to the start of the game.”

The style points Creighton earned will certainly go a long way toward this team solidifying itself as a deep threat for whatever NCAA Tournament matchup(s) the selection committee and basketball gods decree, but what makes this iteration of the Bluejays so formidable is its multifaceted attack. Not only is it Marcus Zegarowski — the point guard who makes the motor run — who is a feared weapon, but forwards Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson possess an innate two-way ability to create and facilitate in equal parts, the latter coming a pair of assists shy of what would have been the program's first triple-double in nearly 36 years.

“If you look at what he’s done so far this year, the guy plays the right way,” McDermott said of Jefferson. “He doesn’t care about who gets the credit, he just wants to win.”

“I know on this team, I’m not going to be the guy who scores 30 every night,” Jefferson conceded. “But I could also be the guy who gets defensive stops, multiple rebounds. I try to be the best teammate I can.”

Jefferson’s experience as one of three seniors on McDermott’s roster also heightens his awareness to get his teammates involved. Mitch Ballock remains the sharpshooter in this group, and Denzel Mahoney remains a game-changer on the wing, but 7-foot freshman Ryan Kalkbrenner could fast become the next big thing on top of that.

“There’s going to be peaks and valleys during a freshman season, and Ryan’s pretty level-headed in his approach,” McDermott said. “He’s got an incredible work ethic, he listens, and he wants to be great. That’s a pretty good combination.”

So too is the total package Creighton displayed. At various points Thursday, the Bluejays alternated between a run-and-gun attack, a grind-it-out group that just looked to stop St. John’s in transition, and perhaps its most lethal look, a team that buries its opposition in an avalanche of extra passes and smart shots that makes it not only a joy for basketball purists to watch, but also the kind of matchup nightmare from which championships are made, a veteran in Jefferson who is comfortable with doing just enough wherever needed to produce a win.

“DJ’s a very mature player,” McDermott elaborated, further praising his senior leader. “And he’s a star in his role. The role that he plays for us is really, really important. We aren’t going to realize how good he is and how valuable he is to our program until he’s no longer there. With some of the success Marcus has, or Mitch makes 11 threes and gets a lot of attention, you don’t pay enough attention to the things that DJ does for our team.”

“We’re not where we are a year ago, we’re not where we are today, without him. He’s a very important leadership component to this engine, and he makes it run in a lot of ways. He puts his fingerprints all over the game, and that’s a sign of a really special player.”