No. 9 Bluejay men's basketball wins the battle for Omaha

Photo Courtesy Creighton Athletics

By Matt Kirkle, Contributor

(OMAHA, Neb.)—No. 9 Creighton’s dynamic offense electrified the empty seats of the CHI Health Center on Tuesday afternoon against Omaha, in the first regular-season meeting between the crosstown schools since 1995. The Bluejays saw six players score in double-figures—and more impressively Marcus Zegarowski barely cracked that list, while Mitch Ballock didn’t. Creighton used a dominant first half to lift themselves over the Mavericks for their second win in three days.

The Bluejays entered Tuesday after an underwhelming performance in their win over North Dakota State, shooting just 23% from behind the arc. After jumping into the AP Top-10 on Monday, there wasn’t much doubt that we’d see a much more efficient Bluejay attack this time around—especially with the return of Denzel Mahoney to the lineup after he missed their season opener due to COVID concerns.

Omaha opened the game 3-of-5 from the floor and led 7-5 approaching the first media timeout. The offensive side of the ball for the Mavericks has been the biggest inconsistency in their first few games, shooting just 40% from the floor and 24% from 3-point range. With the departures of leading scorers KJ Robinson and JT Gibson, along with a number of transfers emerging in the lineup like Marco Smith, Sam’i Roe, and Devin Evans, the Mavericks are still learning to mesh with one another. Omaha proceeded to make just one of their next 18 shots over the next of 11:30 of game clock. In the other 8:30 of the half, the Mavs were 10-of-16.

Creighton, on the other hand, was scoring at will. Their inside-outside game with Christian Bishop in the paint, and multiple perimeter shooters and cutters on the Bluejay offense helped kickstart a 27-3 run and give Omaha headaches for most of the game. Bishop picked up where he left off in the second half against Bison and shot 5-for-7 in the first half leading all Creighton scorers with 12. Mahoney made three 3’s in the opening half as well, followed by Zegarowski with 8. Creighton led 50-26 at the break, shooting 61% from the field to the Mavs 32%.

Omaha began to find some offensive rhythm out of the intermission. They cut the Creighton lead to 59-40 after starting 6-of-11 from the floor in the first 4:30, making two 3’s during the stretch as well. Marlon Ruffin ended up having the hot-hand again for the Mavs in the remainder of the game. The reigning Summit League Player of the Week scored 14 points in the second half on 5-of-7 from the field.

Creighton weathered Omaha’s early burst of points, and some. Their imposing offense continued to score efficiently, and showed some of the substance to all the hype surrounding the Bluejays heading into this season. The Bluejays shot 53% on the half, going 4-of-7 from behind the arc, and saw a lot of young faces provide good minutes towards the end of the game. Ballock didn’t attempt a shot in the second half, and his team put him in a position where he didn’t need to.

Omaha made a late push in the final four minutes, but Creighton walked away with 94-67 win. Bishop led all scorers for the Bluejays with 18, followed by Mahoney with 17. Zegarowski, Antwann Jones, Damien Jefferson, and Ryan Kalkbrenner also scored in double-figures. Zegarowski recorded the team’s first double-double since 2017. Ruffin led Omaha with 18, and has scored in double-digits in each of the first four games. Matt Pile added nine rebounds. The Mavericks visit Drake on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Creighton hosts Kennesaw State on Friday at 4 p.m.