Preview: Creighton @ Arizona State

GAME INFO:

Location: Tempe, AZ

Gametime: 7:30pm CT

Weather at tip-off: 59° fahrenheit, north north-east winds at 5mph, partly cloudy skies.

Radio: Radio: 1620am / 101.9fm / 1620 the Zone App feat the voice of Xmus Jaxon Flaxon-Waxon Bishop

TV: The fucking PAC-12 Network. I thought we got over this shit years ago?

OPPONENT INFO:

Arizona State has an 8-3 record coming into tonight’s game. On the surface that’s incredibly scary because they’ve won quite a bit more than they’ve lost. Let me assure you that you should not live a life of fear; they Sun Devils have lost those three games to Saint Mary’s (Roman Catholic), Virginia (boring as sin), and Colorado (buffalos are like the gods of the prairie).

They’ve beaten three programs of note: St. John’s, San Francisco, and Tom Crean’s Georgia Bulldogs. Beyond that, it’s been a lot of 130+ kenpom teams, with two 250+ wins and a win over #350 Central Connecticut (there are 353 teams in D1 basketball).

Arizona State plays Bobby Hurley ball; fast and loose. They’ve been able to clean up their turnovers in the past few years under Hurley, but their three-point shooting has been sub-par. Against Saint Mary’s they managed to go 3-22 from beyond the arc, which equates to a really bad 13.6%. That’s bad! Granted, Saint Mary’s managed to shoot 61% from beyond the arc, so it only looks worse when viewed through that scope.

Remy Martin, the 6’ point guard for the Sun Devils, put up a goose egg on Wednesday. He’s typically a prolific scorer; even with zero points on Wednesday, he’s still averaging 18 points per contest. He also has a top-50 assist rate.

The Sun Devils have a little bit of size in 6’8 twin towers Romello White and Taeshon Cherry, but their most intriguing player has got to be 6’3 bench guard Alonzo Verge. In Wednesday’s affair he went into “fuck it,” mode and poured in 43 points on 18-29 shooting, most of those coming from in the paint. That’s fun, I guess!

Verba de Ludorum

What do you consider to be a “big game”?

Is it a game that you have an emotional tie to - like an in-state rivalry or when your team plays your alma mater? Or is it simply based on standings, rankings, and the knowledge that your team bested a better team? Is every game a big game?

Do you rely on me to tell you whether this is a big game or not? Because it is. Sort of. Well, not really.

Getting road wins are always big. The people who put together brackets like it when a road team wins. It means that they can play anywhere - on the moon, on jupiter, in Greensboro, North Carolina - anywhere.

Yet, Arizona State desperately needs a win after getting absolutely embarrassed by Saint Mary’s, so this is a massive game for them just to get their confidence back where it needs to be before they start conference play. It’s equal parts good and bad for the Jays, who have a whole week before their big tilt against Midland.

This is where I tell you that Creighton will win, because they’re more talented, they’re on an absolute roll as of late, and they finally get to experience a desert climate that features comfortable outdoor temperatures. You’d think that last bit doesn’t matter, but it certainly does.

It’s hard to say. I wasn’t too confident that Creighton would beat Oklahoma, yet here we are.

What’s easy to say is you should give me a billion dollars if you have a couple to spare. If I had that sweet money I’d be able to go to Tempe and buy a house so you could stay there whenever Creighton visited the state of Arizona. With a billion dollars donated to me I could be a politician representing my interest because fuck you, you already gave me a billion dollars, and that’s certainly fuck you money.

With enough fuck you money I’ll be able to buy your damn family and tell them to love us equally. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? You might as well go for it. Give me that money.

Song of the Day - Maybe by Woman Believer