Creighton has always been a difficult matchup for us and they have found a lineup that is working for them over the last 4-5 games. They basically play 6 guys with highly regarded Blake Harper, Fedor Zugic and Owen Freeman playing minimally. Traudt and Swartz have been excellent since being put in the starting lineup and Dix, Green and Graves have all been solid also.
Offensively they play 5 out - all 5 starters shoot the 3 well, they shoot it often and their big man Isaac Traudt is their best shooter. This always gives us trouble as it pulls our Bigs out of the paint. They have shot 40.8% from 3 over their last 5 games with 12.8 made 3's per game.
They play fast, they pass the ball very well, they get a lot of points in transition(14.8 per game). They play fundamental basketball. If you overplay the 3 and leave the rim unguarded they will drive where they are very good finishers at the rim (70.7%)
Defensively, they run teams off the 3 point line as they are 11th in the Country in 3-point attempts per FG attempt. Their defensive philosophy is NOT to double-team or over help as that leads to open shooters. They stay with their man, they don't foul, they don't go for Turnovers or Blocks, they get good positioning and put their hands up to make you shoot over them. They try to make you beat them with 2-point shots. They are 3rd in the Country in % of Points allowed on 2-pt FGs (59.0%).
We should be able to exploit them in the Paint as they give up 37.4 points in the Paint and get our share of 2nd chance points. Defensively we have to limit their 3s, make them beat us from 2. Don't overhelp, don't leave our feet and don't ball watch. They lack high-end athleticism and for the first time since 2019 they don't have Ryan Kalkbrenner protecting the Rim. Going to be a challenging game but we owe them some Ls and Sunday would be a good time to start.