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No. 18 Creighton puts on another offensive display against No. 6 Villanova

Doug McDermott, James Bell

AP Photo

AP

No. 18 Creighton shot fewer threes in the rematch than they made in the opener, but that didn’t matter.

The Bluejays still managed to put up triple-digits on No. 6 Villanova in Omaha, beating the Wildcats 101-80 behind 39 points from National Player of the Year favorite Doug McDermott.

That means that in two games against Villanova, Creighton beat them 197-148. They shot 60% from three (30-for-50) and 60.4% from the floor. They scored 1.449 PPP in the two games. For those that aren’t well versed in efficiency numbers, that’s a ridiculous number.

There’s an important note to make here: Creighton is not as good as they played in these two games against Villanova, and the Wildcats are not overrated because they ran into the buzzsaw know as “when Creighton’s offense is clicking” twice.

What Creighton does is put shooters are every spot on the floor. In the first matchup with Villanova, the Bluejays simply lit up Jay Wright’s team from the perimeter, hitting 21-for-35 from three. On Sunday, Villanova tried their best to take away the three, but what that opened up was the paint. Creighton was able to beat Villanova off the dribble or on off-the-ball cuts, getting whatever they wanted around the rim. Since Daniel Ochefu, the only real shot-blocking threat on the roster, had to chase Ethan Wragge around the perimeter, Villanova had no defense around the bucket.

And then there is the Dougie McBuckets issue. He moves without the ball more than anyone in the country and is lethal when he gets the ball in the post, but help-side and post-doubles are difficult given how well the Bluejays move the ball and shoot from three.

There are two ways to beat this Creighton team. You need to have the length and athleticism to be able to switch all screens, or you need to be able to muck the game up, getting physical with McDermott and keeping him from getting clean looks from three, curls off of an in-screen or comfortable touches in the post.

Then you need to hope that they have an off-night, because if they’re hitting, they’re going to be tough to beat regardless of what you do.

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