Creighton coach Jim Flanery admits that the Illinois State-Indiana State road swing which the eight other Missouri Valley Conference teams have to make has a different look now than before the season. Indiana State was picked to finish seventh and Illinois State was picked ninth. With Indiana State leading the league and Illinois State winning three of its last four, Flanery is concerned as he brings his team to Redbird Arena for a 7:05 p.m. Thursday match with the Redbirds.
A lot of people didnt think, before the season, that this would be that tough a trip, said Flanery, whose Bluejays are 12-4 overall, 5-2 in the Valley. But Indiana State is playing extremely well and Illinois State has good depth and experienced guards.
Flanerys team, favored to repeat as Valley champions, lost just two league games last year and one of them was at Illinois State, a 64-57 overtime decision televised on Fox Sports Net in which the Birds limited the Bluejays to 22.9 percent field goal shooting. But both coaches agree that pressure--and how its handled--is the key component in this game.
Last year, they had an off-shooting night and thats not typical of them, said Yopp, whose Redbirds are 5-11 overall, 3-4 in the Valley and riding a two-game win streak. The key thing against Creighton is handling their pressure. Handling the ball is critical, particularly early in the game.
Flanery believes the development of perimeter players like Taren OBrien, Jaci McCormack, Katie Donovan and Stacey White makes Illinois State tougher to press. OBrien believes she and her teammates are executing the game plan better.
Our coaches do a great job preparing us, said OBrien. If we take care of the ball and execute our offense and defense, we can be successful against any Valley opponent. We have to be focused for any opponent.
Taking better care of the ball has been a key for a Redbird team that has won three of its last four. In those four games, Illinois State and its opponents each average 17 turnovers per game. Prior to that, the Redbirds were averaging seven more turnovers than their opponents.
With the way we press, wed rather play somebody with inexperienced guards and no depth, said Flanery, who spent 10 years as a Creighton assistant before succeeding Connie Yori as head coach prior to this year. Our style is to wear teams down and I dont think we can do that against Illinois State.
Creighton goes from Illinois State on Thursday to Indiana State on Sunday, another Fox Sports broadcast game. The Redbirds host Drake in a special 7:30 p.m. start on Saturday at Redbird Arena.
