Creighton to test recent lineup changes against Utah Tech
Senior guard Nik Graves didn't like being demoted, but the move has helped spark Creighton out of an early-season funk.
Graves will come off the bench for the fourth straight game as the Bluejays aim for their third straight victory when they entertain Utah Tech on Monday night at Omaha, Neb.
Graves scored a season-best 17 points and made all four of his 3-point attempts in Creighton's 84-63 home win over Marquette on Saturday. He also had six rebounds, six assists and two steals in 22 minutes of action.
"At the end of day, I'm a competitor and I want to win games," Graves said after the Bluejays' second straight easy victory. "Whether it's starting or coming off the bench, I just want to make an impact for the team and win games."
Creighton (7-5) has won back-to-back Big East games by a whopping 62 points, a conference record for the first two league games of a season. The 1988-89 Providence squad held the old mark of 50 points (21 over Boston College, 29 over St. John's).
The first of the easy Creighton wins was a 98-57 whipping of host Xavier on Wednesday. Graves had 12 points and five assists in 20 minutes against the Musketeers.
Graves spent the past three campaigns at Charlotte and started every game the past two seasons.
But as Creighton sputtered, coach Greg McDermott knew he needed to shake up the lineup and Graves (9.8 points per game) and fellow guard Blake Harper (9.3) were the players who went from starters to reserves.
"We're more connected on both ends of the floor," McDermott said of the changes. "The ball has moved better on the offensive end of the floor and defensively I think we're helping each other better than we were through the first 10 games of the season."
Utah Tech (7-6) has won back-to-back games, including Saturday's 82-80 road victory over Weber State.
Ethan Potter scored the winning basket with about one second left to give the Trailblazers the victory. Potter had 23 points and eight rebounds and leads Utah Tech with averages of 16.9 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Madiba Owona added 18 points to score in double digits for the third time in four games and fifth time this season. He ranks fourth on the team with a 10.1 scoring average.
"I just try to let the game come to me and make the right choices," Owona said. "I really like to score the ball."
The Trailblazers have matched last season's win total when they went 7-26.
"The team is really coachable," Utah Tech coach Jon Judkins said.
Utah Tech is 2-4 on the road, including a 93-67 loss to then-No. 13 Arizona on Nov. 7.