Big East Conference

If you listen to all the outside noise, all the TV talking heads rambling on about BIG EAST title contenders this season, one would think everything in the conference centers around Seton Hall and Villanova.

And that would be understandable considering the Pirates have been leading the conference since the season tipped off in late December and the Wildcats, well, they’ve made a living of always being at the top as the most decorated team in the league since the new BIG EAST was christened seven seasons ago.

But one elite program has gone a bit unnoticed this season. It’s one that has won eight of its last nine games. One that has posted three straight road wins over Top 20 teams this month alone, making it a new school record. It’s one that currently sits in second place in the BIG EAST standings, nestled between first-place Seton Hall and third-place Villanova.

It’s one that has already tied a school record with four wins versus Top 25 programs this year, has six Quad 1 road wins, which is second nationally and trails only Seton Hall’s seven. And it has eight Quad 1 victories overall, good for third in the nation behind just Kansas (10), Baylor (9) and Seton Hall (9).

Maybe they go a bit unnoticed because they do their damage away from the bright lights of the East Coast, being the westernmost of all BIG EAST teams. Maybe it’s because they don’t boast a player who is recognized by a single name, like Markus or Myles. Maybe it’s because Omaha is not the first city you think about regarding college basketball, though they have a heckuva fan base..

But we’re here to tell you what 18,000 Omaha-ians (?), Omaha-ites (?), people from Omaha who cram the CHI Health Center on game nights already know - the Creighton Bluejays are the real deal. And the Jays are every bit a part of the race for the BIG EAST regular-season title (and the tournament crown next month) as Seton Hall and Villanova.

Going into Sunday’s home game against No. 21 Butler, 15th-ranked Creighton has already logged 21 overall victories, including a 10-4 mark in the BIG EAST, and the Bluejays have also lost just once at home all season - a five-point loss to Villanova on Jan 7. But they avenged that defeat with a 15-point victory in Philly three weeks ago.

Not bad production from an outfit that was picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST’s Preseason Coaches Poll.

“I’m thrilled to be in this situation,” Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said. “I’ve been on the other side of the coin where you’re playing games this time of year and you’re trying to (play) more of a spoiler role than really playing for anything that matters for your team. So you have to appreciate it when it happens and this group has been a joy to coach. I’m hopeful that we can finish it off.”

The Bluejays are a free-wheeling, high-scoring, let-the-three-pointers-fly fun team to watch. Check any of the important offensive categories and you’ll see Creighton at or near the top of the list.

Scoring offense? The Jays are tops at 78.1 points a game.

Scoring margin? Tops again at plus-8.6 points.

Field goal percentage? Yup, tops again at 47 percent.

Three-point field goal percentage? Ok, not tops, but second to Marquette at 38.1 percent.

And with four players - Ty-Shon Alexander, Marcus Zegarowski, Denzel Mahoney and Mitch Ballock - all averaging in double figures, and Damien Jefferson and Chrsitian Bishop just shy of double figures, you can see why Creighton is knocking on the door of the BIG EAST’s penthouse suite this season.  

“Obviously I’m thrilled for all our guys,” McDermott said. “As a coach you’re always striving to get better and trying to figure out ways to give your team more of an edge. But our guys are playing at a high level right now. It’s an unselfish group and they’ve been that way from the start.”

Alexander leads the Bluejays with a 16.9 points-per-game average, with Zegarowski (15.8), Mahoney (12.4) and Ballock (12.1) closely behind. And McDermott points to the arrival of Mahoney, a transfer from Southeast Missouri State, with helping the offense reach its ceiling.

“It took us a little while to kind of get Denzel Mahoney into our rotation and have him get a feel for where he fits in that rotation,” McDermott said. “But probably equally as important, we got the rest of the guys understanding where he fits because he’s certainly made a difference for us off the bench.”

The Butler matchup on Sunday will be the first of the final four regular-season games for the Bluejays and every one of them will be critical for their chances of winning their first BIG EAST crown. And McDermott is welcoming that challenge.

“You want to be in a situation where you’re playing in late February and the games are meaningful,” McDermott said. “Obviously we got four conference games left that are extremely meaningful as we try and chase the BIG EAST championship and position ourselves, from a seeding standpoint, for the BIG EAST Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”

And while certainly nothing is guaranteed in the BIG EAST, more so this season than perhaps any other, what is also falling in Creighton’s favor is this: The Scheduling Gods have the Jays’ playing three of their final four contests at home in front of those 18,000 screaming Omaha-ians, or whatever it is you call the fine people of Omaha. (Bluejays Nation?). But McDermott is preaching caution going into the season’s home stretch.

“It’s great that we’re going to be at home and we’ll have great crowds for each of the three,” McDermott said. “But having said that, two of the three teams we play at home are teams that beat us, at Georgetown and at Butler. And obviously the other team is the one we’re chasing in Seton Hall. So we have a lot of challenges ahead and as soon as you relax in this league and you slack on your preparation, you’re going to get beat. So the next few days on the practice floor are going to be critical.”

And if the Jays do run the table, or win just enough to claim their first piece of BIG EAST championship hardware, maybe, just maybe, their players might become known by just their first names.

We’re looking at you Ty-Shon, Marcus, Mitch and Denzel.