Bubble breakdown: Creighton restores hope with marquee win
On the fringes of the bubble picture entering Tuesday night, Creighton landed the marquee win it needed to get back to within striking distance of an NCAA tournament bid.
Point guard Maurice Watson scored 32 points and dished out five assists to lead the Bluejays to a 70-56 upset of visiting fifth-ranked Xavier.
Creighton’s victory gives it hope of a late surge during the final three weeks of Big East play. The Bluejays are 16-9 overall and 7-5 in the Big East, but their most noteworthy wins prior to Tuesday night came against fellow bubble teams Seton Hall, Butler and Georgetown.
Now the Bluejays at least have one truly big win on their resume. Xavier (21-3, 9-3) had been just a game behind first-place Villanova in the Big East standings prior to suffering its third conference loss.
Of Creighton’s six remaining Big East games, four are on the road against Xavier, Providence, Butler and Marquette. The Bluejays probably need to win at least two of those and hold serve at home against St. John’s and Marquette to have realistic hope entering the Big East tournament.
That won’t be easy, but give Creighton credit for even being in this position in what was thought to be a second straight post-Doug McDermott rebuilding year. Three of the team’s four leading scorers have one more year of eligibility left, a strong recruiting class is on its way and things are looking up once again for the Bluejays.
TUESDAY’S BUBBLE WINNERS:
Wichita State (18-6, 12-1): The Shockers bounced back from their first league loss of the season with a 74-48 throttling of overmatched Drake. Wichita State should make the NCAA tournament with ease as long as they don’t lose another regular season game, but the Shockers’ injury-plagued non-conference struggles could come into play if they suffer another upset or two.
Cincinnati (18-7, 8-4): Three days after falling at Memphis, the Bearcats avoided an even more damaging loss. They pounded host UCF 69-51. Cincinnati does have a trio of solid wins against UConn, VCU and George Washington, but the Bearcats have only two chances to add to that list before their conference tournament — home games against UConn or SMU. Winning at least one of those is likely essential.
TUESDAY’S BUBBLE LOSERS:
Pittsburgh (17-6, 6-5): The longer Pittsburgh goes without beating a ranked opponent, the more jeopardy the Panthers may find themselves in next month. They fell just short at Miami on Tuesday night, dropping a 65-63 heartbreaker. Pittsburgh’s three most notable wins this season have come against good-but-not-great Notre Dame and bubble teams Syracuse and Florida State. The Panthers’ next chance is Saturday at North Carolina.
Georgia (13-9, 6-5): The Bulldogs should hope nobody on the selection committee watched Tuesday’s 82-48 loss at Kentucky. They looked nothing like an NCAA tournament team at any moment against the Wildcats. Georgia’s resume frankly has little to be excited about besides solid home victories over South Carolina and Clemson. The Bulldogs probably need to win at least five of their final seven games and pick off either Florida or South Carolina in the process.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
