HHC Game Essentials: Creighton Bluejays

Game Time: Sunday, Dec 4th, 2011 4:05 pm @ Century Link Center

Follow the game (via Huskers.com)

[caption id=attachment_491" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="After 6 games neither Doc nor Bluto are fixin to call this season over][/caption]

HUSKERS ON TV/RADIO/INTERNET

Television: KMTV (Ch. 3 in Omaha)

Play-by-Play: Travis Justice

Color: Nick Bahe

Internet: ESPN3

Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network (including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln; KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha; KRVN 880 AM in Lexington)

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka

Color: Matt Davison

Internet Radio/Stats: Google it dude

Satellite Radio: Ch. 137 on Sirius

Game Notes vs. Creighton Live Audio

Mascot: Bluejay

Conference: MVC

Shirt color not to wear: Blue/Blue shirt wtih Husker Football shirt underneath

[caption id=attachment_492" align="alignnone" width="631" caption="The Bluejay star is passing the ball almost as much as Tebow this year.][/caption]

Opposing player to watch: Doug McDermott

McDermott spent the summer with Team USA's under-19 team gaining the confidence to never pass the ball. The coach's son is averaging an impressive 23.7 points per game or points per assist as that total is 6. Snarkiness aside the kid can ball and is a major threat to score and/or rebound the ball at any time. The Huskers have the defensive ability to shut down McDermott but it will come at the cost of leaving someone else open. We'll see how Doc likes his poison on Sunday.

Opposing player to watch: Antoine Young

Contrary to popular belief, Young is not a seventh year senior...it just seems like he's been around forever as he committed to the Jays as a freshman in high school. Young is a player that is going to beat you with his quickness as he drives to the lane and leads the team in appearances at the the charity stripe. Don't let that pump fake around the 3 pt line fool you...he's attempted as many threes this year as McDermott has assists.

Opposing player to watch: Gregory Echenique

I don't know if BJD will have the chore of covering Echenique, but it's possible they might be trading barbs in Spanish as the Rutger's transfer is originally from Venezuela. BJD will have a rough time with the 30 lb weight difference, expect to see the return of Christopher Neimann at the former Qwest Center. While Neimann has a knack for picking up fouls, Echenique has a knack for missing foul shots...converting just 8 of his 23 attempts on the year. I'm not sure if Gregory knows the German word for elbow but I think Neimann should be able to translate.

[caption id=" align="alignright" width="207" caption="The Mavs can get a good look at UNL or Creighton by purchasing a ticket like everyone else.][/caption]

Opposing players not to watch: UNO Mavericks

Get this: the state of Nebraska has a 3rd Division I team! The UNO Mavericks made the controversial move to the big leagues last year at the cost of jettisoning their popular football and wrestling teams. Both teams have welcomed the Mavs into Division I brotherhood by screening their scheduling phone calls though they did manage to finagle a trip to East Lansing to face Michigan St.

Possible Lineups (Bluejays)

Position Ht. Yr. PPG G Antoine Young 6-0 Sr. 10.0 G Jahenns Manigat 6-1 So. 9.3 G Grant Gibbs 6-4 Jr. 8.2 G Doug McDermott 6-7 So. 23.7 F Gregory Echenique 6-9 Jr. 8.3

Possible Lineups (Huskers)

Position Ht. Yr. PPG G Bo Spencer 6-2 Sr. 15.5 G Brandon Richardson 6-0 Sr. 6.5 G Caleb Walker 6-4 Sr. 7.8 F Brandon Ubel 6-10 Jr. 6.3 C Jorge Brian Diaz 6-11 Jr. 11.8

Creighton fans have to be at on cloud nine at this moment given their destructions of cupcakes, making Iowa feel like a cupcake, and clawing their way back into victory against a legit San Diego St. team in a tough environment. The Jays are clicking early in the season with one of the most dangerous offenses in the nation. They've been ripping the nets from inside and outside the arc and do so with up to a 10 man rotation. This is a team building up it's pre-conference resume before it tears through the Missouri Valley Conference like a shark riding an elephant....eating and stomping everything in it's path. BTW, Greg McDermott is 6-3 vs Doc Sadler lifetime while Sadler is 0-2 at the QCLINKWEST.

While Doc's crew is coming off a head scratching home loss vs Wake Forest, the senior class coming up I-80 has taken down Creighton two out of the last three years. It's safe to say that the Huskers are not going to be intimidated on Sunday. Should this game come down to the wire, so far the Huskers have been out-shooting the Jays at the line.

Prediction: Huskers 70- Creighton 68

Other takes

• You gotta love that Omaha.com put this in the Huskers section instead of the Bluejays.
  
• Even when playing Creighton the Journal-Star refuses to acknowledge the existence of a team in Omaha.
  
• A Bluejay Forum.... guaranteed chuckle here or your money back!