What a difference a healthy Ryan Kalkbrenner makes for Creighton basketball.
The Blue Jays’ towering 7-1 center, returned to the lineup after missing three straight games with a non-Covid illness and made an immediate impact, scoring 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting as Creighton took down Butler, 78-56, last night the Big East home opener at the CH on a frigid night in Omaha.
“It’ just a huge presence offensively and defensively for us,” point guard Ryan Nembard said of Kalkbrenner’s return. “He’s an anchor on both ends, I feel like. He gets out offense flowing. He knows where to screen; he knows where to be on the floor. It’s good to have Kalk back.”
Kalkbrenner, who had only practiced three days, started, and played 29 minutes. “I’ll probably get in trouble with our medical people,” Creighton coach Jeff McDermott said. “But I talked to him on the floor to make sure he felt okay.”
The win broke an uncharacteristic six game losing streak and gave Creighton, which was ranked as high as seventh in the AP poll after beating Arkansas and losing to Arizona by two points in the Maui Invitational, a renewed sense of of who they were supposed to
be in pre-season. This was a dominant performance. Versatile 6-7 senior wing Baylor Scheierman, a transfer from South Dakota State, had a complete game, scoring 14 points and eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Forward Arthur Kaluma had 12 points and 6 rebounds and Nembard added 11.
Kalkbrenner took the game over in low post during the second half, scoring 9 of his 14 second half points as the Blue Jays expanded a 30-34 halftime lead to 61-44 with 11:08 left to play.
Creighton {7-6, 1-1} shot 56 percent and 50 from the three. The Blue Jays outrebounded Butler, 37-19, including 23-6 in the second half. and had eight blocked shots against the smaller Bulldogs (8-5, 0-2), who got 14 points from Chuck Harris.
“We had three good practices in a row and I felt we were more connected,’‘ McDermott said. “Our energy level was much higher.”
To be fair, four of Creighton’s losses — to Zona, BYU, Arizona State and Texas– were close. If two had gone the other way, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because of the difficulty of the non-conference schedule. As it is, Creighton is 51 in the NCAA net rankings and should move up. This is a dangerous team that is well coached and regaining its confidence. It should benefit from the increased playing time 6-10 freshman center Fredrick King got when Kalkbrenner, the reigning Big East defensive Player of the Year, was out.. King was named Big East freshman of the year last week after scoring 16 points on perfect 8 for8 shooting during a loss at Marquette.
