CBI Championship Series Game #3 (Series tied 1-1)
Creighton Blue Jays at Oregon Ducks
Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon
Friday, April 1, 2011, 10:00 pm Eastern, TV: HDNet
Opening Line: Oregon -4 1/2
Current Line: Oregon -4
Opening Total: 139 1/2
Current Total: 141
Money Line: Oregon -185 / Creighton +165
With Wichita St winning the NIT last night, Creighton has a chance to give the Missouri Valley Conference two of the four postseason college basketball tournament titles. It won’t be easy as Creighton has to win at Oregon in a hostile environment in a do-or-die game 3. Each team has won on their home court in the best of three series. Creighton won Monday night in Omaha 84-76 to take a 1-0 lead. Four Blue Jays scored in double figures led by Doug McDermott with 21. Oregon evened the series with a 71-58 win Wednesday night in Eugene. Forward Joevan Catron scored 18 points to lead the Ducks in the win. Creighton is 23-15 overall and finished 4th in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-8 record. They have beaten San Jose St, Davidson, and Central Florida en route to the finals. Oregon is 20-18 overall and finished 7th in the Pac 10 with a 7-11 record. Oregon beat Weber St, Duquesne, and Boise St to get to the finals.
Oregon Coach Dana Altman coached Creighton for 17 years before taking over the Ducks this season. Before this series Oregon and Creighton had only played once before in 1974 with Oregon winning. Creighton is 16-8 ATS against teams with winning records this season. Oregon is 25-42 ATS against teams with winning records over the last 3 seasons.
Creighton reserve forwards Ethan Ragge and Casey Harriman are both out for the season with injuries. Though neither played a lot of minutes , the losses hurt Creighton’s depth. The Blue Jays are led by Forward Doug McDermott. McDermott averages 14.9 points to lead the team, 7.3 rebounds to also lead the team, and 1.2 assists a game. Guard Antoine Young averages 12.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 0.9 steals a game. He leads the team in assists and steals. Center Gregory Echenique averages 10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and leads the team in blocks with 1.8 a game. Forward Kenny Lawson, Jr. averages 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Creighton is outscoring opponents 69-65 on the season. The Blue Jays are shooting 45.9% from the field and 36.9% from 3-point range. Creighton opponents are shooting 43.2% from the field. The Blue Jays shoot 73.3% from the free throw line. Creighton averages 34.6 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +3.7. They average 14.5 assists and 12 turnovers a game. Creighton forces 9.7 turnovers a game on defense. The Blue Jays average 4.3 steals and 3.1 blocks a game.
Oregon Forward Jeremy Jacob is out for the season with a knee injury. He averaged 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds. Oregon Forward Joevan Catron is averaging 15.5 points to lead the team, 6.7 rebounds a game to also lead the team. He also averages 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals a game. Sophomore forward E.J. Singler averages 11.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and he also averages 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals a game. Guard Jay-R Strowbridge averages 9.5 points and 2.4 rebounds. Point guard Malcolm Armstead leads the team in assists with 4.4 a game and steals with 2.3 a game and scores 8.7 points a game. The Ducks are outscoring opponents 70-69 on the season. The Ducks are shooting 42.4% from the field and 34.2% from 3-point range. Duck opponents are shooting 44.5% from the field. Oregon makes 73.9% of their free throws. They average 32. rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of -1.8. They average 14 assists and 12.4 turnovers a game. The Ducks force 15.4 turnovers a game on defense. They average 8.3 steals and 2.7 blocks a game.
You might play a conference foe 3 times in the same season, but it is very rare to play a non-conference foe even twice in a season. These two teams know each other very well after playing two straight games against each other. I Think Oregon will cover because they are much better at home than on the road.
Our college basketball handicappers are red hot this month. Don’t miss out on any more winners.
