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After picking up three wins in as many games to open their 2020-21 season, the #8 Creighton Bluejays hit the road for the first time on Tuesday, heading three hours south to take on the #5 Kansas Jayhawks.
It’s about as big of an early-season matchup you can ask for, as Creighton gets a chance for their second true road win over a top-5 team in school history, with the Ethan Wragge bombardment of Villanova being the other. If the Bluejays want to get the rest of the nation outside the Big East buzzing, this is the perfect opportunity.
How do you beat this Kansas team? Well, there’s the Gonzaga method, where you shoot 64.5% from the field and hang 102 points on the Jayhawks. Creighton could do that if their shots start falling early and often, just as was the case in the aforementioned Villanova game, but it’s probably not a strategy to rely on.
The fact of the matter is, if Creighton plays like Creighton, they have a great chance at knocking off Kansas. This Jayhawks team has been perfectly fine this year, and that’s about it. After the season-opening loss to Gonzaga, Kansas blew past St. Joe’s. Then, they beat a bad Kentucky team by three points in a game Kentucky led at the half. Kansas responded with a big win over D-II Washburn before a narrow victory over North Dakota State, a game Kansas trailed by three at the final media timeout. The same North Dakota State team that Creighton beat by double-digits earlier in the season. It seems like a cop-out to say Creighton just has to do their thing and they’ll win, but that’s the perks of building the roster Creighton has built. Run the offense through Marcus Zegarowski, get Kansas native Mitch Ballock some good looks from deep, work the ball inside to Ryan Kalkbrenner, and you’ll have a great chance to take home the victory.
THE FACTS
Time and Date: Tuesday, December 8, 4 p.m. CT
Records: Creighton (3-0) | Kansas (3-1)
Rankings: Creighton (#15 KenPom) | Kansas (#9 KenPom)
TV Channel: ESPN
Watch Online: WatchESPN
Line: Kansas -3.5
Total: 147