Although No. 21 Creighton has dropped three consecutive games, coach Greg McDermott isn’t going to let his team come apart at the seams.
He told the Bluejays as much after their latest loss Wednesday, a 77-73 defeat at the hands of No. 20 Texas A&M at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
Creighton (4-3) looks to bounce back Saturday against Notre Dame (4-3) in the tournament’s seventh-place game.
“Same thing I’ve told my teams for 36 years, teams who point fingers lose. And we’re not going to do that,” McDermott said.
Pop Isaacs scored 25 and dished out six assists against the Aggies, connecting five times from beyond the arc. Jackson McAndrew added a season-best 16 points and Steven Ashworth scored 14 after being out with an injury earlier in the week. Ryan Kalkbrenner finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
McDermott found positives in the defeat, including the play of McAndrew, who made three 3-pointers against the Aggies and is averaging 9.4 points on the season.
“I think his ceiling is ridiculously high,” McDermott said of the 6-foot-10 freshman. “He hasn’t even scratched the surface yet. That’s just a young man who trusts his work, that’s put in the amount of repetition that you have to, to be a great shooter.”
Isaacs ranks second in scoring for the Bluejays with 16.2 points per outing. Ashworth is putting up 15.7 points per game. Kalkbrenner leads the team in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (8.6) and has blocked at least one shot in 21 consecutive games, the longest streak nationally.
Notre Dame also is coming off a loss to a nationally ranked opponent, falling 65-54 to No. 6 Houston on Wednesday after battling throughout the game. Tae Davis scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss.
The Irish were playing without reigning ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton, who exited Tuesday’s game against Rutgers with a knee injury.
It appears he will be out at least a week, perhaps longer. Burton told reporters he’s thankful for the support and is proud of his team for the way it continues to battle.
“As in everything I do in basketball, I will attack my rehab and give it my best to get back on the floor at full strength as soon as possible,” Burton said.
Head coach Micah Shrewsberry is glad Burton won’t be out for the rest of the year.
“We are thankful that Markus will be back at full strength,” Shrewsberry told reporters. “I have full faith in our athletic trainer and our entire medical staff to put Markus in the best position to return to the court when it is the right time.”
Notre Dame has dropped three in a row and hopes to find a way to get back on track without Burton the court.
Burton is the Irish’s leading scorer with 18.2 points per game. Braeden Shrewsberry ranks second at 15.1 points per contest and Davis is averaging 14.1. Matt Allocco also boasts a double-digit scoring average (10.3).
–Field Level Media
