After a first appearance in the Big East championship game, Creighton dropped their third matchup of the season to sixth ranked UConn Huskies 70-50 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Bluejays continue to remain the underdogs of the conference that was once headline by Depaul and Marquette in the last five seasons. But since UConn returned in 2020-21, Creighton began to build a veteran group around a freshman class that would become the Huskies top challenger in the Big East.
For four seasons straight, The Bluejays have received a ranking by the Associate Press poll along with three consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament. Jim Flannery has led his team to multiple 20-win seasons throughout the program’s four-year run. Creighton is not a team that revolves around having post players but more of guard orientated with small forwards to describe their playing style.
The Bluejays are known for three-point shooting and attacking the rim when they are not getting open looks. Defensively Creighton pressure opponents to turnover the ball and rebounding to limit second chance opportunities. They have led the conference in three pointers made for four seasons straight.
Creighton best season was in 2022 when they returned to the NCAA Tournament and made the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. The Bluejays defeated seven seed Colorado Buffaloes in the first round, then upset Caitlin Clark and the two seed Iowa Hawkeyes in front of their home crowd. In the sweet sixteen, Creighton went toe to toe with three seeded Iowa State Cyclones who had tournament experience and were also a great three-point shooting team.
The Bluejays surpassed the Cyclones 76-68 continuing their Cinderella run to the elite eight as a ten seed in the tournament. Creighton would battle top seed South Gamecocks to become the first double-digit seed to make the Final Four. The Bluejays gave everything to South Carolina but end up falling 80-50.
Since the elite eight run, Creighton continues to schedule games against ranked teams and non-power four schools that were the best in the conference for previous years. The Bluejays bring their best against the competition where they have completed the job or struggled at the end. Creighton had opportunities to beat UConn when they had the injury bug for two seasons but still have yet to get a victory over the Huskies in the series matchup.
In the last two NCAA Tournaments, the Bluejays elite eight Cinderella run has not help them extend their postseason that they wanted to improve on. They were destroyed in the first four by Mississippi State in 2023 and lost control for 10 minutes against UCLA in the 2024 second round.
“Creighton has the ability to keep up with these high-profile programs but it’s their lack of competitiveness that affects them from staying locked in for 40 minutes. The Bluejays should play more ranked teams than UConn that will help them have a resume built and better seeding in March.”
Creighton this year is playing one of their best basketballs so far this season. They are led by fifth year starters Lauren Jensen (17.8 ppg) and Morgan Maly (17.3 ppg). The Bluejays have 26 wins which is the most under Jim Flannery and the team’s last few seasons of success in program history.
Creighton entered the season ranked 23rd until they dropped the second game to an unranked but experience South Dakota State team by five points. The lost cause the Bluejays to fall out of the rankings for half the season and they continued to receive votes after the bounce back win against state rival 22nd ranked Nebraska. The other loses included top 10 teams in Kansas State, rematch with UCLA, and Big East foe UConn.
The Bluejays dominated conference play with 15 of the 17 games against the conference were won by single- or double-digit points. Creighton rejoined the rankings in late February after many ranked upsets in the power four conference. The crazy thing is the Bluejays are 1-5 against ranked teams and still making the poll.
“The question is the committee ranking Creighton based on their conference record or to make sure that UConn is not the only team in the Big East getting recognition. The Bluejays are a good team, but I feel like there are other teams outside the power four conference have a decent resume then them.”
Creighton hopes to hear their name called on the NCAA Selection Show this Sunday where the Bluejays look to make the postseason after failing to win the conference championship.
