There is a significant difference in the Big East between winning as a men’s basketball home favorite and attempting to pick off an expected contender on the road.
Providence was reminded of that again Tuesday night in Omaha. Creighton absorbed a couple runs but was never truly threatened in the second half after Isaac Traudt made his key contribution.
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The reserve forward came off the bench on fire, and the Bluejays expanded a four-point lead into double digits. They eased down the stretch for an 84-64 victory at CHI Health Center, denying the Friars what would have been a third straight victory.
Traudt scored all of his 13 points in the first 6:26 after the break, and Creighton matched its largest advantage at 61-48. Providence never saw single digits again, following a blowout of Butler and a strong offensive showing against Seton Hall with a clunker.
“Against the upper echelon of this league, we talk about it with our team,” Providence coach Kim English said. “Marquette, (Villanova), Connecticut and Creighton – we’ve got to be better. We’re 0-3 against those four so far with another one on Friday.”
The Friars visit the Wildcats next, and they’ll do it off the back of just 38.2% shooting and eight assists. Providence closed 4-for-20 from 3-point range and was outscored by 30 from beyond the arc. Wesley Cardet Jr., Ryan Mela and Corey Floyd Jr. shared team-high honors with just 10 points apiece.
“They have their five man parked at the rim,” English said. “If you’re a shooter, they stay attached to you. They make you play in ball screens 2-on-2 without a lot of help.”
Mela connected on a second free throw to make it a 46-42 game with 17:36 left before Traudt heated up. He fired home a 3-pointer and followed with a four-point play, a jumper and a foul from the right corner with 15:47 to play. Traudt hit again from the right wing and made it a perfect 4-for-4 from deep with another open jumper from the left corner.
“It’s lack of execution,” English said. “It’s failed switches. It’s guarding a shooter who’s one pass away. The ball is being dribbled toward you – you should be pushing out getting to that shooter.”
The Bluejays (11-6, 4-2 Big East) emptied the bench with 2:25 left after the knockout 10-0 run. Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner shared game-high honors with 20 points and Kalkbrenner celebrated his 150th college game with 10 rebounds to complete a double-double. Ashworth collected all of his team-high six assists in the first half – five of those came on feeds to Kalkbrenner at the rim.
“Our switching didn’t bother them at all, and they got going,” English said. “They have great shooters up and down the roster.”
The Friars (9-9, 3-4) were sparked by their point guards over the last three games, including in an 87-84 road loss to the Huskies. That wasn’t the case on this night – Jayden Pierre and Bensley Joseph combined for nine points, two assists and no steals while shooting 3-for-19. Oswin Erhunmwunse was the lone Providence player among the 11 who saw the floor to finish with a positive plus-minus rating, closing plus-1 in 23 minutes.
“The standard is the standard,” English said. “In practice, if it’s Creighton or not, run your absolute hardest in transition defense. That’s enough. And if you do that, you get in front of the play. You have a better chance.
“They were just far too good tonight.”
PROVIDENCE (64): Wesley Cardet Jr. 4-8 1-1 10, Jayden Pierre 2-9 2-2 7, Ryan Mela 4-6 2-3 10, Corey Floyd Jr. 5-11 0-0 10, Oswin Erhunmwunse 4-5 0-0 8, Christ Essandoko 3-7 0-0 7, Jabri Abdur-Rahim 0-3 3-3 3, Justyn Fernandez 2-5 0-0 5, Anton Bonke 0-0 0-0 0, Bensley Joseph 1-10 0-0 2, Eli DeLaurier 1-4 0-0 2; Totals 26-68 8-9 64.
CREIGHTON (84): Jasen Green 2-5 0-0 4, Steven Ashworth 8-19 0-0 20, Jamiya Neal 2-8 3-6 8, Ryan Kalkbrenner 8-12 2-4 20, Jackson McAndrew 1-5 0-0 3, Fedor Zugic 3-4 0-1 6, Ty Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Shane Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Miller 3-4 0-0 8, Frederick King 1-1 0-0 2, Isaac Traudt 4-4 1-1 13; Totals 32-62 6-12 84.
Halftime – C, 43-34. 3-pointers – P 4-20 (Cardet 1-2, Pierre 1-4, Floyd 0-1, Essandoko 1-2, Abdur-Rahim 0-2, Fernandez 1-4, Joseph 0-3, DeLaurier 0-2), C 14-32 (Green 0-2, Ashworth 4-10, Neal 1-4, Kalkbrenner 2-4, McAndrew 1-4, Zugic 0-1, Miller 2-3, Traudt 4-4). Rebounds – P 40 (Floyd 8, Erhunmwunse 8), C 35 (Kalkbrenner 10). Assists – P 8 (Mela 3), C 15 (Ashworth 6).
bkoch@providencejournal.com
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Friars lose to Creighton Bluejays in Big East basketball
