Creighton’s 2024-2025 schedule is a beast on paper. Entering their opening game, 13 of their 31 games (and five of their 11 non-conference games) are classified as Q1. Eight others are Q2 and five are Q3. Of the five Q4 games on their schedule, four come in the next two weeks (plus DePaul at home on Feb. 26).

If you’re wondering how that compares to the cutthroat slate of 2022-2023, it’s a little tougher, at least right now – by the end of the season, 11 of that year’s 31 games were Q1, eight were Q2, seven were Q3 and five were Q4. That schedule was the 22nd toughest in the country; the 2024-2025 schedule will likely land in the top 20.

This two-week period may be the only chance they have to dig deep into their bench and get the rotations in order. First up is UT Rio Grande Valley, picked by coaches and staff to finish eighth out of 12 teams in the Southland Conference. They enter Monday at 0-1 after an 87-67 loss at Nebraska. That game featured ten lead changes in a tight first half, and the Vaqueros only trailed by four (67-63) late in the second half before the Huskers closed the game on a 20-4 run.

UTRGV was 6-25 and 1-16 in road games a year ago, blowing things up and more or less starting from scratch. New coach Kahil Fennell brought in 12 new players, including eight D1 transfers, in an effort to quickly remake the roster.

The cupboard wasn’t completely empty, however, as 6-foot-4 senior forward Hasan Abdul-Hakim returns after averaging 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game a year ago. He also put up good numbers against the top teams on their schedule, with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals against Oklahoma and a 21-point, nine-rebound performance against NCAA Tournament qualifier Grand Canyon. However, he struggled earlier this week at Nebraska, scoring four points in 29 minutes.

That’s because much of Abdul-Hakim’s offense comes from the free throw line. A year ago he scored 172 points in 17 games; 60 of them were on free throws. He had four separate games with eight or more made free throws, including 9-for-9 against Grand Canyon. He attempted zero free throws against Nebraska, and unsurprisingly he struggled to score. It’s not just Abdul-Hakim: Last year, UTRGV ranked 20th in the NCAA and third in the WAC in free throw attempts per game (23.5). They finished with 513 free throws made, which ranks fifth in a single season in program history, while attempting 728 free throws, which ranks fifth in a single season in program history. Of course, the staff is largely different this year, but that DNA remains.

Sophomore guard Jamar “JJ” Howard Jr. also returns after averaging 10.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game a year ago, though he did not play Monday at Nebraska. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because his father is former Wichita St. standout Jamar Howard. Yes, that Jamar Howard.

With their twelve newcomers, the Vaqueros set out to recruit shooters. 6-foot-1 guard DK Thorn shot 36% from three-point range last season at Alcorn State. 6’3” KT Raimey shot 36.3% from three for DePaul. 6’2” Cliff Davis shot 39.2% from three at Northwestern State. 6’6” Kwo Agwa shot 40.7% from three at Texas A&M-Commerce. And 6’2” Trey Miller has shot 30.2% from three during a career that includes stops at Incarnate Word and Southern Illinois. Without much size — Abdul-Hakim and fellow 6-foot-1 forward Tommy Gankhuyag are the tallest rotation players — they’ll focus their offense on three-pointers.

To that end, 41 of their 67 shots against Nebraska were threes; they made 13. But they missed eight of their last nine three-pointers in Nebraska’s 20-4 run to end the game – before that they were a very respectable 12 – from 32 from deep (38%) and within range to pull off an upset. But ball security was perhaps the bigger issue, as UTRGV had 20 turnovers (or one in 26% of their possession). That, plus 11 offensive boards for Nebraska, led to the Huskers getting 20 more shot attempts than the Vaqueros.

Against Creighton, the game plan will likely be similar, as UTRGV doesn’t have the size to attack Ryan Kalkbrenner at the rim. Likewise, they don’t have the size to defend him on the other side. If Creighton can defend the perimeter and get the ball into the Kalkbrenner on offense, the Jays should win this one 25-30 and spend large chunks of the second half getting experience for their newcomers.

• Tip: 8 p.m
  • Location: CHI Health Center Omaha
• Television: FS1
  • Announcers: Wayne Randazzo and Nick Bahe
  • In Omaha: Cox channel 78 (SD), 1078 (HD); CenturyLink Prism Channel 620 (SD), 1620 (HD)
  • Outside Omaha: FS1 channel locator
  • Satellite: DirecTV channel 219, Dish Network channel 150
  • Cable Cutters: Available on all major streaming platforms
  • Streaming on the Fox Sports app and website
• Radio: 1620AM, 101.9FM

• UTRGV had four players score in double figures on Monday, led by DePaul transfer KT Raimey, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Senior Cliff Davis finished the game with 12 points on four three-pointers. Sophomore Tommy Gankhuyag finished with 11 points and made three 3-pointers. And graduate student DK Thorn also finished with 11 points and made a trio of 3-pointers.
• Raimey notably had 10 points in two losses to the Jays a year ago, including four points on 1-of-3 shooting in Omaha.
• This is UTRGV’s first season in the Southland Conference after eleven seasons in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The school is the successor to the University of Texas-Pan American, which ceased operations in 2014 and merged with the University of Texas-Brownsville (which also ceased operations) to form a new school called UTRGV, at the campus of the former UT Pan-American. The newly combined institution inherited UTPA’s athletics department, but changed its mascots from the “Broncs” to the “Vaqueros”.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner owns 1,771 career points as he became the 45th men’s player in Creighton history to surpass 1,000 on Feb. 25, 2023 at Villanova. The only player in Creighton history to enter a season with more career points than Kalkbrenner’s 1,771 was Doug McDermott’s 2,216. A distant third were Rodney Buford and Bob Harstad, who each scored 1,540 points in their last campaign.
• Kalkbrenner also ranks second in program history in blocked shots with 306. Kalkbrenner had 107 shots last year and is 105 behind Benoit Benjamin’s once-untouchable CU record of 411 this year (he had more than twice as many as the next player , Chad Gallagher’s). 183, before Kalkbrenner).
• Creighton has a sparkling 91-15 (.856) opening day record, including 14 straight wins and victories in 26 of the last 27 lid lifters following last year’s 105-54 victory against Florida A&M. Greg McDermott has won each of the last 22 season openers he has coached in, and he is 22-1 at the Division I level in season openers. That includes double-digit wins in 13 of his first 14 openers on the Creighton sideline.

Creighton is 2-0 all-time against UTRGV, winning 75-60 in 2014 and 89-58 in 2019, with both previous games in Omaha. Greg McDermott is 3-0 in his career against the Vaqueros, winning the two aforementioned games on the Creighton sideline, while also defeating UTRGV 74-66 on November 29, 2001 as head coach of Northern Iowa.

At that 2019 meeting, a depleted Creighton squad still managed a 31-point win. They only dressed seven scholarship players as Kelvin Jones and Davion Mintz were both out with injuries. Then Damien Jefferson strained his calf early in the game and was out. And when Christian Bishop and Shereef Mitchell both committed two early errors, they had to put together a lineup with four scholarship players – and no big men. 6’8” freshman walk-on Nic Zeil played 13 minutes. Mitch Ballock played center. Greg McDermott had to use dead balls to quickly create game plans and send them to players who were all out of position. Fortunately, Ballock, Ty-Shon Alexander and Marcus Zegarowski were up to the challenge, scoring 54 of the Jays’ 89 points to lead them to victory.

This ties for the second-earliest start date for a season opener in Creighton Basketball’s 107-year history. The only previous start in program history was in 2019-20 (Nov. 5), while CU also debuted on Nov. 6 in 2018-19.

By comparison, 32 years ago, Creighton’s season opener in 1992-93 didn’t happen until Dec. 3.

That opener of 2018/19? A 78-67 win over Western Illinois. Damien Jefferson had eight points and 12 rebounds in his Bluejay debut; his 12 rebounds were the most by a Bluejay in his first game since 1975 and the first time a Bluejay recorded 10 or more in his debut since the hard-hitting Nick Porter did so in 2005. And Mitch Ballock dished out five assists, and Ty- Shon Alexander had four, while the pair of second-year guards combined for 25 points and 9 assists. Alexander added six boards, a block and a steal. It was a sign of things to come for three Bluejays who would soon take the program to new heights.

The bottom line is:

Creighton is favored by 30.5 in Vegas and has a 98.8% chance of winning, according to ESPN’s BPI. KenPom is *slightly* less optimistic, predicting a 28-point win. Regardless, provided the Jays don’t suffer from the same opening night jitters that infected many Big East teams on Monday, this should be a comfortable win decided early.

Creighton 95, UTRGV 63