Game #7: #20 Texas A&M Aggies vs. #21 Creighton Bluejays
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024 • 5:30 p.m. CT • Las Vegas, Nev. • MGM Grand Arena
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | TAMU NOTES |
• It’ll be a Top 25 battle on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Central when No. 21 Creighton (4-2) takes on No. 20 Texas A&M (4-2) as action continues to the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Nev.
• The game will be streamed on MAX at http://GoCreighton.com/MBB112724max, with JB Long, Candace Parker and Lauren Jbara on the call.
John Bishop will also broadcast the game on 1620 The Zone and 101.9 The Keg. That audio can also be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1620. The game also airs on SiriusXM channel 390, as well as https://sxm.app.link/SXM980.
• Creighton defeated Texas A&M, 100-77, on Dec. 23, 1971 in Albuquerque, N.M., in the Lobo Classc in the only previous meeting between the schools. Ted Wuebben had 17 points and 15 rebounds while Ralph Bobik added 24 points and 11 assists to lead CU.
Greg McDermott is 0-5 all-time against Texas A&M, with all those meetings coming when he was leading Iowa State from 2006-10.
McDermott is 2-0 all-time against Buzz Williams, as his Creighton team defeated Williams’ Marquette’s squad twice in 2013-14.
• Jackson McAndrew had 12 point and 14 rebounds on Tuesday vs. San Diego State.
McAndrew is the first Bluejay freshman with a double-double since Fredrick King had 16 points and 10 rebounds at Marquette on Dec. 16, 2022. King is CU’s last freshman with consecutive double-doubles.
McAndrew is the first Bluejay with a double-double in his first start at Creighton since South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman had 11 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 7, 2022 vs. Florida A&M.
McAndrew is the first Bluejay freshman with a double-double in his first career start since Ryan Nembhard (15 points, 10 assists). No Bluejay freshman since at least 1987-88 had owned a points/rebounds double-double in his first career start.
McAndrew is one of three freshmen in the BIG EAST this season to have a double-double in his first career start, joining UConn’s Liam McNeeley (18 & 10 vs. Sacred Heart) and Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber (20 & 13 vs. Lehigh).
McAndrew’s 14 rebounds were the third-most by any freshman in Greg McDermott‘s 15 years as Creighton head coach (491 games). Doug McDermott had 17 at Bradley on Feb. 1, 2011 and 16 at Akron on Feb. 19, 2011.
• Ryan Kalkbrenner has blocked a shot in 20 straight games, the nation’s longest active streak.
It’s Kalkbrenner’s third career streak of 20 or more games with a swat. He’s the nation’s only player since 2005-06 with three such streaks.
Kalkbrenner’s five blocked shots yesterday were a season-high, and the 17th game of his career with five or more rejections. All other Bluejay players since 2005-06 have combined for 16 such games (7 by Gregory Echenique, 4 by Anthony Tolliver, 2 by Kenny Lawson Jr. and 1 each by Fredrick King, Jacob Epperson and Justin Patton).
• Speaking of Ryan Kalkbrenner, he was fouled three times yesterday, when he owned five blocks, two dunks and no fouls.
In his career, Kalkbrenner has been fouled 462 times, owns 322 blocked shots, 250 dunks and just 231 career personal fouls in 140 games played.
This year only, he’s been fouled 29 times and has 16 blocks, 14 dunks and committed six fouls.
• Pop Isaacs had 18 points Tuesday and now owns 895 career points (72 at Creighton). He’s five shy of 900.
• Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 1,889 career points and is 11 away from 1,900. He scored 11 on Tuesday.
• Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 893 career rebounds and is seven short of 900. He snared five on Tuesday.
• Yesterday’s game against San Diego State saw the Bluejays start freshmen Ty Davis and Jackson McAndrew. Creighton had not started multiple freshmen in the same game since Trey Alexander and Arthur Kaluma started against Kansas on March 19, 2022
Creighton’s last win with two freshmen in the starting line-up came two days earlier, a 72-69 overtime win against San Diego State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Creighton vies for its first Top 25 win of the season on Wednesday when it meets No. 20 Texas A&M.
The Bluejays are 56-169 all-time against top 25 teams (18-23 when CU is also ranked) and 38-53 under Greg McDermott against nationally-ranked opponents, 30 more top 25 wins than any other coach in Creighton history. Prior to McDermott’s arrival, Creighton was 18-116 all-time against top 25 foes.
Creighton has beaten at least one ranked team in each of the previous 11 seasons (entering 2024-25). On a national basis, the only 16 teams with a top 25 win each of the previous 11 seasons are Baylor, Creighton, Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas Tech, Villanova, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
• Creighton had just six fouls in Wednesday’s game vs. San Diego State, and just one in the first half.
It was the 19th time since the start of last season that CU had a half with three fouls or less.
It was also the seventh game since the start of 2022-23 that Creighton has had six fouls or less. The only other team in the nation that has had three such games in that span is Notre Dame (3).
Creighton was the only team nationally that did not have a player foul out last season. Per Elias, CU’s streak of 59 straight games without a foul out is the nation’s longest streak since at least 2005-06.
• Yesterday’s loss vs. San Diego State came almost five years to the day of an 83-52 Bluejay loss on Nov. 28, 2019 to San Diego State in Las Vegas (at The Orleans). That 2019 game, like yesterday, came in CU’s sixth game of the year, dropped CU to 4-2, and saw the Bluejays hit just one shot from 3-point range in the second half. The next day CU squared off against a team from Texas (Texas Tech), and won 83-76 in OT.
So how did it all end up that year for the Bluejays? Creighton went on to win a share of the program’s only BIG EAST regular-season title and finished the year ranked seventh in the country.
