It was another sweat, but the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets got there, so we’re off to a 2-0 start for this week on spotlight games in college basketball. More and more conference tournaments are starting with each passing day and I encourage you to head to ATS.io, where I’m talking about those on the podcast and also in article form.
As far as what’s happening here at BTB, tonight’s focus is on the game between Creighton and Villanova. It is a big game, but one that has a lot of intrigue and also some unfortunate storylines behind it. Villanova is -4.5 with a total of 147 from the fine folks at Bovada Sportsbook. Let’s dig into this one.
Creighton Bluejays
Creighton has been in the news for all the wrong reasons the last few days. Head coach Greg McDermott used what he called a “terribly inappropriate analogy” in hopes of getting his team to band together. You can find out exactly what he said if you want, but needless to say it ruffled some feathers and rubbed a lot of players the wrong way. This is the biggest game of the night and a big one for both teams with the Big East Conference Tournament looming. It is also a big game for Creighton. McDermott’s ill-advised comments came after a game in which the Bluejays lost to Xavier 77-69, but it was only their second loss since January 20. McDermott must have seen something in his team’s play that concerned him, so he attempted to head it off at the pass. Well, now we have to wonder how his team comes together with two regular season games left to play. McDermott has been in Omaha since 2011 and this seemed to be an isolated incident, so maybe there won’t be any carryover effect for the players. He’ll certainly choose his words more wisely the next time and perhaps the players have moved on. If the Bluejays play anything like the first meeting against Villanova, winning could cure all. Creighton won the first game 86-70 and was 32-of-54 from the floor with 1.34 pointes per possession. That was the best offensive performance of the season for Creighton. Villanova had 1.091 PPP of its own, but that wasn’t nearly enough to topple Creighton and the efficient offense in that one. That game was played to just 64 possessions and had 156 points back on February 13. The closing total for that game was 144, so we have seen an adjustment for sure.CLAIM YOUR WELCOME BONUS FROM BOVADA SPORTSBOOK