Creighton Basketball set a program record for Big East wins with 15 this season, their tenth year in a row above .500 in conference play. Per Rob Anderson, the list of programs with the most seasons finishing .500 or better in league play over the last 30 years is as follows: 30 – Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas; 29 – Creighton, Kentucky, Michigan State. Decent company for the small Jesuit school in Middle America.
Ryan Kalkbrenner will occupy a lot of real estate in this week’s sports report. The Creighton big man has earned multiple accolades so far and there are still some irons in the fire. On Sunday, he was announced as a unanimous selection to the All-Big East first team and the conference Defensive Player of the Year – again – after leading the league with 2.7 blocks per game. This is his fourth-straight DPOY honor and puts him in rarefied air with Patrick Ewing as the only other player in Big East history to do so. He was also named a Top 5 finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the best center in college basketball.
Kalkbrenner is the all-time leader for the Big East in blocked shots, field goal percentage, games played and field goals made, per a Creighton release. He is one of two players in the storied Big East Conference to ever win four DPOY honors. He is the winningest player in school history in both the regular and postseason. Doug McDermott had his jersey retired at Creighton just last season, the first since Kyle Korver’s in 2018. It won’t be much longer until a jersey numbered 11 hangs with them.
Steven Ashworth and Jackson McAndrew also earned All-Big East honors of their own. Ashworth, in his second and final season with the Bluejays, was named Second Team All-Big East after leading the conference in assists. McAndrew conversely was named to the All-Freshman team for contributing 7.6 points per game on 36 percent three-point shooting, and 4.4 rebounds per game.
UNO Basketball won the Summit League title Sunday sending them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. It was hardly the first historic feat for the Mavericks this season, and they hope to keep beating the odds – and trashcans – on the chase for more. For more on UNO and the above trashcan reference, read the article from earlier this week on Grow Omaha’s sports page.
#22 Creighton Women’s Basketball lost the Big East Tournament Title to #3 UConn on Monday, 70-50. It was just their 6th loss of the season, with all losses coming to teams in this week’s Top 25, according to Creighton Athletics. The Lady Jays will wait to hear their name called for the fourth straight time on Selection Sunday and are projected as an 8-seed in the NCAA’s final bracket prediction. Fans are invited to a free viewing party for the Men’s and Women’s brackets starting at 4 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena.
The NSAA Boys’ State Basketball Championships began last night at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. Ten teams from the metro will compete for a state championship from classes A through C1. All championship games will be held Saturday and will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Media.
Former Metro basketball stars Chucky Hepburn, Hunter Sallis and John Tonje all received distinctions in their respective conferences. Hepburn (Bellevue East, Louisville) and Sallis (Millard North, Wake Forest) were named All-ACC First Team while Tonje (Omaha Central, Wisconsin) earned All-Big Ten First Team honors. Hepburn was also awarded the ACC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in steals with 73 (2.43 per game).
Union Omaha lost their season opener last night, falling 3-0 to Greenville Triumph SC in a rematch of last year’s USL League One semifinals. The Owls’ next game will be next Thursday, March 20th against Flatirons FC. All Union Omaha games are broadcast live on ESPN+.
Upcoming Games
• Creighton Basketball vs. DePaul (Big East Tournament) | Tonight, March 13 | 6:00 p.m.
• Omaha Supernovas at Indy Ignite | Tonight, March 13 | 6:00 p.m.
• LOVB Omaha vs. LOVB Madison | Tonight, March 13 | 7:00 p.m.
• UNO Baseball vs. St. Thomas | March 14-16 | 3:00 p.m. Friday
• Creighton Baseball at San Francisco | March 14-16 | 4:00 p.m. Friday
• Omaha Supernovas at Orlando Valkyries | Saturday, March 15 | 6:00 p.m.
