“What can you say? This is the building No. 1 teams go to die evidently,” Greg McDermott said last night after his Creighton Bluejays defeated a No. 1 team at home in consecutive seasons. Last year it was UConn; this year, it’s Kansas. As fans stormed the court at the CHI Health Center in Omaha after the 63-76 win, many couldn’t help but point to Jayhawks star Hunter Dickinson’s “kryptonite” that unranked Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner apparently presented.
On The Field of 68: After Dark podcast, host John Fanta makes an interesting observation, “For the first time since Dec. 10th, 1983, 41 years ago, three of the Associated Press top 5 teams have lost in the poll have lost a non-conference game on the same night as Duke over Auburn goes final. The Blue Devils hand Auburn their first loss of the season.”
But what was more surprising was the Kansas Jayhawks being handed their first loss of the season after a strong 7-0 run at the hands of an unranked Creighton Bluejays. “The number one team in the country, whether you think they are or not, the number one team in the country, they fell tonight. The Kansas Jayhawks fall to the Creighton Bluejays. This is a statement-maker for Greg McDermott’s team,” Fanta added.
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There were more than four minutes that Kansas went without scoring and as Fanta points out, Dickinson took just four shots and had six points on the night. Two of those attempts were threes that were missed, making it 2-of-4 shooting, his second-lowest point total in his two years as a Jayhawk.
As Fanta pointed out, “Kalkbrenner… is a three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. But it just felt like Kalkbrenner owned Dickinson in this matchup of two bigs in college basketball.”
Former Cleveland Cavaliers pro John Henson replied, “That’s been Hunter Dickinson’s kryptonite over the years – size and length. And Kalkbrenner brings that to the table and more…if you can get him out of the game early, he’s a lot easier to handle. And I think that’s what Creighton did. Hunter Dickinson looked uninterested, kinda looked like he was over it. He wasn’t getting any of the usual shots he usually gets.”
The 7-ft-2 senior center wrapped up his night with 6 points, 8 rebounds, and a steal. On the other hand, the No. 11 Bluejay grabbed a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds on a very successful outing. And the much-anticipated matchup of Dickinson and Bluejays’ Ryan Kalkbrenner ended in disappointment for Kansas fans.
Creighton has had a tough start to the season, already dealing with three losses but even Kansas coach Bill Self was impressed with Kalkbrenner.
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Coach Bill Self highlights Creighton’s “good game plan” against Hunter Dickinson
KU being knocked down from their pedestal was not on the Jayhawks’ 2024 bingo cards but coach McDermott could not be more proud of his team. Kansas coach Bill Self reflected on the night afterward, noting how four guys on the paint forced Hunter Dickinson and Co. to get creative, “They just dared us to shoot (from the outside), which was a good game plan.”
Impressed by Kalkbrenner, Self also said, “He did do a good job, but let’s call it like it is: We’ve got to figure out a way to get the ball to him (Dickinson) when they’ve got four guys in the paint, too. There was a reason why he didn’t get as many touches, too. We’ve got to do a better job of getting him the ball.”
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It’s been one blow after another for Kansas lately, with this loss and Dickinson’s ejection from the game against UConn last week, after he kicked a player. Nevertheless, this is still a championship-contending team. Self has some planning and strategizing to do and fans can hopefully see them back in form again soon!
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Did Creighton expose Kansas as overrated, or was it just a bad night for the Jayhawks?
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Did Creighton expose Kansas as overrated, or was it just a bad night for the Jayhawks?
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