No. 5 UConn Huskies No. 22 Creighton Bluejays
23-3 (15-0) 23-4 (14-1)
Date: Thursday, Febuary 27th, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: XL Center
Hartford, Ct
TV: CBS Sports Network
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CREIGHTON | UCONN LEADS 10-0
H: 5-0 | A: 5-0 | N: 0-0
11/23/14 #1 UConn 96, Creighton 60 Storrs, Conn.
12/17/20 #3 UConn 80, Creighton 47 Storrs, Conn.
02/25/21 #1 UConn 81, Creighton 49 Omaha, Neb.
01/09/22 #9 UConn 63, Creighton 55 Storrs, Conn.
02/02/21 #10 UConn 76, Creighton 56 Omaha, Neb.
12/28/22 #8 UConn 72, #21 Creighton 47 Omaha, Neb.
02/15/23 #6 UConn 62, Creighton 60 Storrs, Conn
1/3/24 #12 UConn 90, Creighton 54 Omaha, Neb.
02/19/24 #15 UConn 73, Creighton 53 Storrs, Conn
1/25/25 #6 UConn 72, Creighton 61 Omaha, Neb.
Creighton Season to Date
Creighton has been a great representative of the Big East, many times in the Top 25. They started the seasonat No. 21. After an early season loss in their first game to South Dakota State 76-71, the Bluejays dropped out of the poll. They also lost to at the time No. 10 Kansas State 86-68. They used an 8 game winning streak starting with a win over at the time No. 21 Nebraska 80-74 to return to and hang around in the "receiving votes" area. But after the big loss to No. 1 UCLA 70-41 they dropped out of sight.
The Bluejays immediately went on another winning streak, seven games, all in the conference before the upcoming UConn game. They beat St. John's 75-56, Butler twice 68-64 and 63-52, Providence 60-46, Marquette 71-68, Seton Hall 72-64 and DePaul 92-71.
After losing to UConn 72-61, they are now on a seven game conference winning streak beating Georgetown 84-70, Providence 79-66, Seton Hall 72-56, Villanova 70-57, Georgetown again 70-48, St. John's 65-62 and Depaul 83-74 in the game before the upcoming UConn game.
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn Creighton
81.4 PPG 73.7
52.0 Defensive PPG 63.8
29.4 Scoring Margin 9.9
51.0 Field Goal % 45.7
35.4 Defensive FG% 43.1
38.4 Three Point % 37.2
30.1 Defensive 3PT% 31.2
76.4 Free Throw % 80.1
36.7 Rebounds/game 33.5
6.0 Rebounding Margin -0.3
21.6 Assists per game 17.6
10.9 Turnover per game 10.9
2.0 Assists/TO ratio 1.6
11.2 Steals per game 6.6
3.6 Blocks per game 2.5
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
(In order of expected return)
Had surgery on her ankle. Out for the season
Had surgery on 12/16. Out for the Season
Creighton Starters
Game Analysis
UConn beat Creighton 72-61 in their first meeting this season. It was a really not as close as the final score. UConn was ahead by 2 after one quarter, by 14 at the half and 18 going into the fourth quarter. Creighton closed the gap in the fourth quarter but it was never closer than the final 11 point disparity.
Creighton has an incredibly experienced lineup. They have 7 returning players in their rotation of 7 players. Yes, everyone is back except one player. That is one huge loss. Second leading scorer from last year 6'1" forward Emma Ronsiek has transferred to Colorado State.
They really haven't replaced her in the rotation as they only go seven deep as opposed to last year when they went eight deep with Ronsiek. The two off the bench will not add much to the box score. Unlike many Creighton teams of the past, who spread around the minutes and the points pretty evenly between their players, this year is really top heavy with Morgan Maley and Lauren Jenson. Their players used to live by the mantra "Depth is our strength". That is really not true this year.
5'10" Senior (also her Covid season) guard Lauren Jensen is playing 34.6 MPG, She is the leading scorer averaging 18.3 PPG. Last year she also led the Bluejays in scoring. She has had an off season in shooting at only 46.2% but her 40.0% on threes is terrific. She does take care of the ball leading the team with 105 assists and only 53 turnovers. She is shooting 45-50 on free throws for 90.0%. She had 11 points and 7 rebounds in the first UConn game.
6'1" Senior (this is her Covid season) guard/forward Morgan Maly is the leading scorer averaging 17.5 PPG. Playing 30.3 MPG she is shooting 49.9% from the field and has taken the second most three point shots with 103 and shooting then at blazing hot 44.7%. She leads the team in rebounding at 5.7 RPG. She is 50-56 on free throws for 89.3%. She had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in the first UConn game.
5'7" Grad Student guard Molly Morensen averages 9.7 PPG in 29.9 MPG. She is a very good three point shooter at 40.2%. However, she only takes around 3 per game. She is second on the team in assists with 110 and only has 51 turnovers. She doesn't get to the line much but is 32-37. She had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists but also 5 turnovers in the first UConn game.
6' Grad Student forward Mallory Brake. Playing 20.5 MPG, she leads the team in steals with 37. To put that in perspective, UConn has 4 players with 45 or more. She is only averaging 5.2 PPG and 4.4 RPG. A good ball handler she has 55 assists and 24 turnovers. She is also leads the team in blocks with 20. She had 4 points, 5 assists and only 1 turnover in 17 minutes in the first UConn game.
5'8" Junior guard Kiani Lockett is playing 27.9 MPG. She is the only new player in the starting lineup from last season. Fourth on the team in scoring at 6.1 PPG she is one of the few poor three point shooters going 12-45 for 26.7%.
Off the bench 5'10" Junior Kennedy Townson plays 20.3 MPG, and is a good three point shooter in her limited time on the court. She is averaging 6.4 PPG and was shooting a solid 21-56 on threes but is only 5-27 since then. She had 3 points in 24 minutes in the first UConn going 1-5 from the field and 1-4 on threes.
5'10" grad student guard Jayme Horan gets the least minutes in the rotation at 16.9 MPG. She on shooting 36.9% on threes and averaging 4.8 PPG. She did not play in the first game.
So, how does this year's version of the Bluejays match up with this years UConn team? Geno mentioned how similar they are to Marquette in size and style. So the preparation for the Bluejays is also similar.
This is a typical Bluejay on offense Creighton likes to pass the ball around the perimeter looking for an open three. They drive to the hoop, looking for the kickout for an open three as well. Players are also constantly running through the lane, screening and looking for open spaces. The Bluejays will occasionally make the pass into the lane if the cutting player is open. Fourty-one percent of their shots are three pointers. They are shooting them as well this season so far at 37.1% same as UConn and are a very dangerous team from the arc.
Their other method of scoring is off the fast break and they do run well when they get the chance. Defensively I didn't see any pressing, even after a made basket. However, I expect Creighton to press some if they can make a decent percentage of their shots.
Creighton is strickly a man-man teams with plenty of switches. They will double in the post and they have to because of their lack of size. And their lack of size puts them at a real disadvantage in this game. They are even smaller than Marquette.
UConn is going to use the same pressure defense hoping to turn defense into offense. That is not easy as Creighton is a very good ball handling team. This could be the difference in a close game or a blowout.
Creighton is a very good team with great experience. While UConn handled them easily in the first matchup, the Bluejays battled the entire game closing a 20 point four quarter deficit to an eleven point UConn win.
It was a really porr shooting game for the Huskies shooting 40% from the field and 4-20 on threes. The big difference was the 6 turnovers for UConn and 18 for Creighton.
El Alfy only played 9 minutes in the first game. She is just not a good matchup for Creighton. I would expect the Huskies to go small again but this time Aubrey will be available. I think she will have a big impact in this game. I also expect Strong to have another great game. She had 26 points in the first matchup. Paige add 22 points.
Prediction
I really like how the Huskies are playing and I'm not convinced that Creighton is any better than last season. If Creighton gets hot from deep it could be a close game. Their only chance is outscoring UConn in a shoot out. That is a recipe for a blowout. Unless the Huskies go stone cold dead again from the outside, I don't think the Bluejays have a shot to make a game of it on the Huskies home court.
In spite of Massey having it an 14 points game, I see UConn by 20+.
