Game Thread: Xavier vs Creighton (1/29/2025)

[paulxu]

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2a1f45a0-e1cc-4202-89d7-1b7b5c27f309_1.3c18d8e111cdcd7e8a271effb6000907.jp eg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFFVS.https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/G4bqx6o358IGptIL05FmtA--/YXBwaWQ9ZWNfaG9yaXpvbnRhbDtoPTQwMDtzcz0xO3c9NDAw/http://bkstr.scene7.com/is/image/Bkstr/157-PLUSH-157-6-Blue?.cf.jpg


CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 13-8 overall and 5-5 in the BIG EAST Conference, travel to Omaha, Neb., for a Wednesday clash with the Creighton University Bluejays, 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the BIG EAST, at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET). Xavier is coming off a win over then-No. 19 UConn on Saturday, while Creighton won its fifth-straight game with a win over Seton Hall on Saturday.

This is the first meeting between Xavier and Creighton this season. XU and CU meet again in Cincinnati on March 1.

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (13-8, 5-5 BIG EAST)
CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY BLUEJAYS (14-6, 7-2 BIG EAST)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2025 AT 7 PM CT/8 PM ET
CHI HEALTH CENTER OMAHA, OMAHA, NEBRASKA

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

TV/Stream: FS1 with play-by-play from Connor Onion and analysis from Nick Bahe.
Xavier Radio: 700 WLW-AM with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from XU all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88). XU broadcast is also available on the Varsity Network and on Sirius XM.

Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com (http://statbroadcast.com/) and fan stats at GoXavier.com. (https://goxavier.com/)

[drudy23]

Win please.

[Xville]

Probably going to be 6-7 point dogs. Bart Torvik says 75-68 Creighton.....let's steal one!

[Backyard Champ]

This certainly isn’t a must win game, but if we manage to win, I feel really good about our tournament chances. This may be the most difficult game remaining?

[Fireball]

I think this and at Villanova are our only Q1 opportunities remaining. If we get one of those, I think we'll be on the right side of the bubble.

[Xville]

I think this and at Villanova are our only Q1 opportunities remaining. If we get one of those, I think we'll be on the right side of the bubble.

As long as they don't lose to a Depaul or Seton Hall, I agree.

I plugged in an 8-2 record the rest of the way on Torvik...with the only losses to @Creighton and Nova and it still gave X almost a 70% chance to make the tourney and go to Dayton.

[paulxu]

I plugged in an 8-2 record the rest of the way on Torvik...with the only losses to @Creighton and Nova and it still gave X almost a 70% chance to make the tourney and go to Dayton.

That's a great reason not to lose @Creighton and Nova.

[XUMIOH12]

I think this and at Villanova are our only Q1 opportunities remaining. If we get one of those, I think we'll be on the right side of the bubble.

Right. Feel like they need another Q1 win, especially with uconn not currently being a Q1 win. Home vs creighton is close to becoming Q1. And at butler and providence aren't too far away from Q1 games either. Would be nice if a couple of those could move in to that tier.

Regardless, winning at creighton likely puts them in the field for the moment and buys maybe 1 game of leeway down the stretch.

[bleedXblue]

I like how we're playing.....need to get Conwell going. Jamiya Neal has been playing well. I think Swain will get that assignment. Limit Ashworth and we have a good shot at winning. I think Kalk gets 18 and 10. We just dont have anyone that can deal with him.

[Xavier]

Is this a three man team? Feel like past Creighton teams had weapons all over. How they started the season then when one of the better players got hurt I thought they’d fall off. Don’t know much about them outside of ashworth and kulk. I like our chances if it’s a matter of limiting 3 guys. We’ve been good at crashing down on drives. It’s the drive and kick I’m worried about, do they have typical knock down shooters spreading the floor?

[bleedXblue]

Is this a three man team? Feel like past Creighton teams had weapons all over. How they started the season then when one of the better players got hurt I thought they’d fall off. Don’t know much about them outside of ashworth and kulk. I like our chances if it’s a matter of limiting 3 guys. We’ve been good at crashing down on drives. It’s the drive and kick I’m worried about, do they have typical knock down shooters spreading the floor?

Not as much their MO this year. They shoot about 35% from 3 as a team.

[Xville]

One of the few remaining games where X isn't favored to win. That should free the guys up and just let it fly. If they win, immediately X is on the right side of the bubble. Lose, and it doesn't change much except needing to win the games you should. Let's get after it and steal one!

[Xville]

Freemantle doesn’t need to be shooting that many threes in 4 minutes. Work the ball a little more

[Section 200]

Freemantle doesn’t need to be shooting that many threes in 4 minutes. Work the ball a little more

Miller said on his radio show that he wants Zach to shoot more 3s so he is encouraging it.

[noteggs]

Don’t like this scoring lineup now

[Xville]

Hugley instant offense!

[GoMuskies]

I find some of the things Conwell does very confusing.

[noteggs]

Tough defensive run.

*rough

[Xville]

Nice dive ashworth

[GoMuskies]

Swain is good.

[Xville]

Hugley getting some nice run tonight. Showing actual glimpses as to why he’s a d1 bb player

[GoMuskies]

Feeling like we need to hold on for dear life these last 3 and a half minutes.

[Xville]

Feeling like we need to hold on for dear life these last 3 and a half minutes.

As the kids would say our d has been pretty sus so far tonight. I know it’s creighton, but still sus

[Xville]

If thr d doesn’t get their shit together, x is going to get blown out

[bjf123]

Feeling like we need to hold on for dear life these last 3 and a half minutes.

Think we lost our grip.


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[Xville]

Swain is so damn good

[Xville]

That three was huge. Nice Maddox!

[Xville]

Ok got back into it. X was in danger territory there for a while. I wouldn’t mind seeing more Hugley in the 2nd half. I think he did really well on d

[nickgyp]

Conwell nowhere to be seen. Need his offense. Going inside against Kalkbrenner is a tall task…

[Three Point Pete]

Conwell nowhere to be seen. Need his offense. Going inside against Kalkbrenner is a tall task…He's been a 2nd half guy.

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[Xville]

Kalkbrenner making two 3s is killer

[nickgyp]

Nice start for Conwell this half but can’t let Kalkbrenner drain threes

[noteggs]

Kalkbrenner making two 3s is killer

Especially from deep. wtf

[Xville]

Got a ballgame! Lfg!

[SkyWalker]

Time out???

[nickgyp]

Nice Xavier run to get back in it. Can’t fault the effort. Kalkbrenner will get his points though.

[bjf123]

Time out???

Beats me.


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[Xville]

Maddox just got murdered, no call

[Xville]

Ugh. Alright hugley time to step up!

[Xville]

Conwell just got hacked. That should have been four on kalkbrenner but of course not

[Xville]

Ok. Finally understand why Hugley was picked up. Guy has a smoothness to his game that I didn’t know existed

[Three Point Pete]

Big John has got moves like a wing player. Sean said it would take a while to get used to his new body.

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[nickgyp]

Ok. Finally understand why Hugley was picked up. Guy has a smoothness to his game that I didn’t know existed

Solid effort by Hugley. Kalkbrenner is the difference though.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

If this game was in Cincy and not Omaha, the game is called differently. That is just the unfortunate fact. You have to expect a bunch of bad ones in Omaha, we knew this already.

Just have to stay in it and hope they go cold and we respond.

[Xville]

Danger time again. Ugh. Other than butler, creighton annoys me more than any other team in the conference

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Got to come out with points here and defend, time is running out but I don't like where we are right here.

[Xville]

Every damn time we make a run, creighton makes a 3. Fuck

[Xville]

I don’t think creighton has missed this entire half it seems

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Those two in a row are brutal. Good lord, you can't let that happen on the road.

[nickgyp]

Those threes and the turnover certainly didn’t help.

[xukeith]

CU does have some good 3 point shooters. Add a dominant 7 footer.

I still think X is the better team.

[bjf123]

Would you believe they’ve only made 1 more 3 than us?


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[Xville]

Not much you can do when creighton shoots the way they have. They get a ridiculous whistle at home, been like that forever so if they are hitting shots on top of it, makes it nearly impossible. Is what it is. Barring a big comeback, going to take an 8-1 finish the rest of the regular season

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Well, Creighton is shooting 54% overall and 44% from three. They made more FTs than we shot, and "allegedly" committed 5 fewer fouls.

[nickgyp]

How can Creighton only have 5 fouls?

[Xville]

Hugley has done a really good job on kalkbrenner.

[GoMuskies]

Maybe hit layups. That would help. And FTs.

[noteggs]

Probably will lose but hughey has arrived

[Xville]

Has opportunities to cut it down to 2 and just didn’t capitalize…. And there’s the dagger. Ashworth is such a douchebag

[GoMuskies]

We are what we are. A mediocre bubble team.

[xukeith]

thats 4 baskets missed at rim in past 6 attempts. X defense sucks if you allow 8 / 10 from 3 in second half.

[Xville]

Well, got to go 8-1 the rest of the way. That’s a tall task even with the remaining easier schedule

[CP05XU08CU13]

Went to the game tonight. Proud how this team fought back, but way too many missed shots around the rim and missed free throws. Another winnable game lost!

[xuwillie]

Well, got to go 8-1 the rest of the way. That’s a tall task even with the remaining easier schedule

Yeah I don't see how this team even goes 5-3 with how up and down they are

[Xville]

We are what we are. A mediocre bubble team.

I think that’s a little harsh. This team has been really good the last few weeks, and is playing way passed bubble territory. Very few teams are going better than 4-2 with the schedule they just faced.

[Xville]

Yeah I don't see how this team even goes 5-3 with how up and down they are

I think 6-3 is easy for this team considering the schedule, it’s making that 8-1 that’s a tall task.

[GoMuskies]

I think that’s a little harsh. This team has been really good the last few weeks, and is playing way passed bubble territory

We are what our record says we are.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I agree, we just aren’t a consistent team. If they played like this all year, we would have a few more wins but that consistency eludes them. 8-1 is almost the only way we make it, but at Nova/Providence is still out there. Plus taking care of business against the bottom.

[nickgyp]

I think that’s a little harsh. This team has been really good the last few weeks, and is playing way passed bubble territory

Agreed. Kalkbrenner was unstoppable and Creighton shot lights out. Xavier did themselves no favors with the inability to finish at the rim. Last minute offense seemed to waste a lot of time getting a shot off especially inside the arc when threes were needed. That being said, it still was a solid effort. Hugley was very good tonight. The rest of the schedule will be difficult but X is playing better these last half dozen games. Just keep up the current effort and who knows?

[Xville]

This probably secures x in the 4/5 game in msg. First round game against a healthy mcneeley uconn team. Great.

[Xville]

Agreed. Kalkbrenner was unstoppable and Creighton shot lights out. Xavier did themselves no favors with the inability to finish at the rim. Last minute offense seemed to waste a lot of time getting a shot off especially inside the arc when threes were needed. That being said, it still was a solid effort. Hugley was very good tonight. The rest of the schedule will be difficult but X is playing better these last half dozen games. Just keep up the current effort and who knows?

X really should not lose at home and has no business losing to hall. IMO it’s going to come down to providence, nova and @butler. Win 2 of those three and hopefully that gets it done. Honestly probably have to beat nova just to get another q1

[Xville]

FWIW, 7-2 and torvik has us as the last team in, but that’s assuming like zero bid Steelers and we all know those happen

[ArizonaXUGrad]

7-2 is a big ask, they are going to have a turd game in there.

[XUGRAD80]

I don’t think that X played badly, it’s just that Creighton was just a little better in a few different areas and got hot from 3 in the 2nd half. Hopefully Hugley has a few more games like that this year, he played great. Going in I thought that if Creighton hit their 3 pointers that it was going to be very hard for X to win there, and that’s exactly how it played out. I also feel that X could possibly run the table the rest of the way out, but they could also possibly lose quite a few if they don’t come out ready to play every game. They are in position to make a run, but there isn’t much margin for error.

[xukeith]

I see X winning all remaining home games, @Providence, @Butler, @Seton Hall.
8-1

[GoMuskies]

We don't play again until Tuesday? Yuck. Hate having to wait after that.

[OTRMUSKIE]

We knew X would lose 2 more reg season games. Creighton and prob nova and win out after that. If they lose 2 more regular season games going forward then they are toast. This was the one of the two we all thought would happen. Creightin is good but honestly if we have a true center this is a different game. No answer for the Cock. Classy program they have and great fans .

[Xville]

Hunter and Maddox need to show up every game down the stretch. They were worthless last night, it has to be incredibly frustrating for miller

[XUGRAD80]

Hunter and Maddox need to show up every game down the stretch. They were worthless last night, it has to be incredibly frustrating for miller

If you only look at the offensive production of those two, I can see where you’d make that comment. But not if you’d look at all the stats.

Hunter only played 8 minutes…..he only had 2 points, but he also had 2 rebounds in those 8 minutes.
Foster had only 2 points also, but he did have 6 rebounds.

X actually had more offensive rebounds than Creighton did (14-11) Offense wasn’t the problem last night. Stopping the 3 in the 2nd half was the problem. X couldn’t and Creighton couldn’t miss (7 in a row at one point) in the 2nd half. It happens like that sometimes.

I wouldn’t blame the loss on the lack of offensive production from those two. I’d say the reasons were the lack of defending the 3 point line in the 2nd half and the great shooting by Creighton. They have been doing a great job on the former and sometimes regarding the latter you just have to tip your hat.

[Xavier]

I agree but when you get a big performance like that from big John it sorta evens out what you hope for from bench. But I don’t think Hunter was getting any action in 2nd half until free got in foul trouble.

They played fine. But missed a few easy ones and a couple really dumb/bad plays. Needed to be our best version to win that one. But if we played like we did last night the rest of year we’d give ourselves a shot. Play our best and we will be fine. Was the first time I was somewhat happy John will be back next year

[Xville]

If you only look at the offensive production of those two, I can see where you’d make that comment. But not if you’d look at all the stats.

Hunter only played 8 minutes…..he only had 2 points, but he also had 2 rebounds in those 8 minutes.
Foster had only 2 points also, but he did have 6 rebounds.

X actually had more offensive rebounds than Creighton did (14-11) Offense wasn’t the problem last night. Stopping the 3 in the 2nd half was the problem. X couldn’t and Creighton couldn’t miss (7 in a row at one point) in the 2nd half. It happens like that sometimes.

I wouldn’t blame the loss on the lack of offensive production from those two. I’d say the reasons were the lack of defending the 3 point line in the 2nd half and the great shooting by Creighton. They have been doing a great job on the former and sometimes regarding the latter you just have to tip your hat.

Hunter was also really bad on defense and gave little effort in rebounding. I remember one play in particular where Hugley completely boxed out his man to almost out of bounds, and all Hunter had to do was go grab the rebound. He didn't and Miller lit him up at the timeout, I don't think he played after that.

Maddox has to score to be effective, he does little else for the team. He's not great defensively, and it\'s not like he is going to go grab rebounds.

Hugley made up for the lack of bench production from those two especially defensively, but Hunter and Maddox have both played a shit ton of basketball and are woefully inconsistent.

I'm not saying those two were the reason for the loss, as you said Creighton just couldn't miss in the 2nd half, but if you can't count on those guys to have consistent production down the stretch, that's an issue. Our margin of error is super thin, and the top 7-8 guys need to contribute every night.

[Xavier]

If you only look at the offensive production of those two, I can see where you’d make that comment. But not if you’d look at all the stats.
.

Hunter was benched bc he was horrible on defense. Plain and simple. Just didn’t have it, and the travel on a wide open layup was icing on top. Maybe just a bad match up but he was bad. Maddox had a few open looks and didn’t fall. We need both to play better to win these type of games. Not against SH of the league but at Creighton, everyone needs to bring it.

Ugh I forgot about that rebounding “effort” from Hunter. Great box out for him to just grab it. Looked like a video game where controller just stopped working. He froze and watched Creighton just grab it easily for a dunk. Brutal play there.

[bleedXblue]

Hunter and Maddox need to show up every game down the stretch. They were worthless last night, it has to be incredibly frustrating for miller

We get one good game out of every 4 from Hunter. When he plays well, we are tough to beat.

[XUGRAD80]

Hunter and Maddox need to show up every game down the stretch. They were worthless last night, it has to be incredibly frustrating for miller

I apologize…I thought that said Hunter and FOSTER. I agree on Maddox.

And was merely pointing out that Hunter didn’t play much, so hard to judge him. Was he sick? Or just not playing well and benched?

Both have been widely inconsistent all year for sure.

[bjf123]

We don't play again until Tuesday? Yuck. Hate having to wait after that.

Yep. With 11 teams, someone gets a weekend off. Guess it’s our turn.


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[JTG]

For as long as I can remember Creighton has had at least 1 guy, sometimes 2 or 3 that were deadly 3 pt shooters. If they're off you can beat em, if they're hot you're fu*ked.

[GoMuskies]

They shot well from 3, particularly in the second half. But Kalkbrenner going 12-17 from 2 was a bigger issue.

They were 19-32 from 2 point range. We were 19-42.

Also, Creighton outscored us by 5 in the first half shooting 3-15 from 3. That's really where the game was lost, because we hung in despite the 8-10 3-point shooting in the second half.

[Xville]

They shot well from 3, particularly in the second half. But Kalkbrenner going 12-17 from 2 was a bigger issue.

They were 19-32 from 2 point range. We were 19-42.

Also, Creighton outscored us by 5 in the first half shooting 3-15 from 3. That's really where the game was lost, because we hung in despite the 8-10 3-point shooting in the second half.

I could be wrong, I'd have to go back and watch but it felt like Hugley did a pretty good job om Kalkbrenner when he was in. Freemantle having to guard Kalk is just ridiculous...he's giving up 5 inches and about 40 pounds.

[bleedXblue]

I could be wrong, I'd have to go back and watch but it felt like Hugley did a pretty good job om Kalkbrenner when he was in. Freemantle having to guard Kalk is just ridiculous...he's giving up 5 inches and about 40 pounds.

Free might be one of the worst post defenders to ever play at X. Guy can score, but man he struggles guarding.

[Three Point Pete]

We are what we are. A mediocre bubble team.We are not a mediocre bubble team. We just play like one on TV.

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[Xavier]

We definitely were. Since the St. John’s home loss, at least according to efficiency metrics, we’ve played as the 20th best team in the country. Hence the rational it seems like we’re playing better than our record is….because we are. We just had such a poor start to the year. Keep playing like the 20th best team and we put ourselves in position. Unfortunately the first 2+ months of the year are still part of the resume leaving us no breathing room.

It’s pretty clear to me we have been better than the first 2+ months. Find it hard to believe you could watch this team over last 5-6 games and not see an improved team. If you think it’s the same level then you have to be forgetting how bad we looked.

[GoMuskies]

We've been playing better for sure. We're still not particularly good and get reminded of that all too regularly (last 15 minutes and OT at St. John's; last night as a couple of examples). UConn was a nice win, but as has been pointed out a number of times by XVille, without McNeeley they're not exactly great. They're coming in at a 36 KenPom. We have Marquette to hang our hat on, and that's an absolutely fantastic win, but I don't feel super confident we could do it again.

[Xville]

The good thing is that we are going to find out how good this team is over the next nine games. Have we turned a corner enough to where we beat the teams we should beat, or are we going to be up and down. The schedule sets up to where if they are that good team, they should go 8-1. We will soon find out.

[GoMuskies]

Hate that we're in that position.

[Xville]

Hate that we're in that position.

It's the dumb games we lost....TCU, Gtown, UC, BOC not fucking us over against Marquette. Win two of those and the team is in great shape.

[drudy23]

BOC not fucking us over against Marquette. .

And St. John's.

[D-West & PO-Z]

We knew X would lose 2 more reg season games. Creighton and prob nova and win out after that. If they lose 2 more regular season games going forward then they are toast. This was the one of the two we all thought would happen. Creightin is good but honestly if we have a true center this is a different game. No answer for the Cock. Classy program they have and great fans .

I think if we go 7-2 the rest of the way we sneak in. Anything better than that I feel pretty good. That puts us at 20 wins. And yeah we could get screwed like a couple BE teams last year but also last year the following teams were single digits seeds:

UD- 3 Q1 wins
Gonzaga- 3 Q1 wins
Mich st- 3 Q1 wins
Florida- 3 Q1 wins
Miss St.- 2 Q1 wins
Nebraska- 3 Q1 wins

I think if we get to 20 wins and avoid any bad losses we pass the eye test and get in. We shall see. Just win. Schedule is much easier but can’t afford to trip up. Need to stack the wins.

I think people also forget how truly bad the bubble is every year usually. Last year there were more bid thieves than usual.

[Xavier]

People point to SH not making it despite being 13-7 in big east but pretty big difference between the two. They were in the 60s in the metrics with half wins coming against Q4. If X gets to 13-7 they’d be a lock. At 12-8 they’d be in play for PIG but could see it go either way. After the Creighton loss, ESPN moved us from first team out to second team out.

[Xville]

People point to SH not making it despite being 13-7 in big east but pretty big difference between the two. They were in the 60s in the metrics with half wins coming against Q4. If X gets to 13-7 they’d be a lock. At 12-8 they’d be in play for PIG but could see it go either way. After the Creighton loss, ESPN moved us from first team out to second team out.

I'd like to think that 13-7 would be a lock but we shall see. Going 8-1 the rest of the way is a tall task even with the remaining schedule anyways.

Last year there seemed to be an inordinate amount of bid thieves, even in the p5/power conferences so last year may have just been an abberation and 12-8 would even get X in. I think X needs at least one more quad 1 win though...so either they beat nova, or UCONN gets to a Q1 or Creighton does and we beat them at home.