2019–20 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team represented Creighton University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bluejays were led by 10th-year head coach Greg McDermott and played their home games at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 24–7, 13–5 in Big East play to earn share of the Big East regular season championship. The Big East Tournament and all other postseason tournaments including the NCAA Tournament were canceled shortly after the regular season ended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellations effectively ended the Bluejays' season.

2019–20 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball
Big East regular season co-champions
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 7
2019–20 record	24–7 (13–5 Big East)
Head coach	Greg McDermott (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Steve Merfeld (8th season) Alan Huss (3rd season) Paul Lusk (2nd season)
Home arena	CHI Health Center Omaha

2019–20 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 7 Creighton	13	–	5		.722			24	–	7		.774
No. 11 Villanova	13	–	5		.722			24	–	7		.774
No. 16 Seton Hall	13	–	5		.722			21	–	9		.700
Providence	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
No. 24 Butler	10	–	8		.556			22	–	9		.710
Marquette	8	–	10		.444			18	–	12		.600
Xavier	8	–	10		.444			19	–	13		.594
Georgetown	5	–	13		.278			15	–	17		.469
St. John's	5	–	13		.278			17	–	15		.531
DePaul	3	–	15		.167			16	–	16		.500
As of March 11, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll NOTE: The 2020 Big East Tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game of the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Bluejays finished the 2018–19 season 20–15, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East Tournament, they lost to Xavier in the quarterfinals.[1] They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the TCU bracket[2] where they defeated Loyola[3] and Memphis[4] before losing to TCU in the quarterfinals.[5][6]

Offseason

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Shereef Mitchell PG	Omaha, NE	Burke High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Jul 12, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2018-08-29.

Roster

2019–20 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Antwann Jones 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Oak Ridge HS Memphis Orlando, FL G 1 Davion Mintz 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr North Mecklenburg HS Charlotte, NC G 4 Shereef Mitchell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Omaha, NE G 5 Ty-Shon Alexander 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Oak Hill Academy (VA) Charlotte, NC G 10 Jett Canfield (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) RS Fr Hayden HS Topeka, KS G 11 Marcus Zegarowski 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Tilton School Hamilton, MA G 12 Jordan Scurry (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr St. Mark's Chestnut Hill, MA F 13 Christian Bishop 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So West Lee's Summit, MO F 20 Nic Zeil 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Park Hill HS Kansas City, MO G 21 Jalen Windham 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Ben Davis HS Indianapolis, IN G/F 23 Damien Jefferson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Central HS New Mexico East Chicago, IN G 24 Mitch Ballock 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Eudora HS Eudora, KS G 34 Denzel Mahoney 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Hagerty Southeast Missouri State Oviedo, FL C 41 Jacob Epperson 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So La Lumiere (IN) Melbourne, Australia C 43 Kelvin Jones  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Hobbs HS Idaho State Chihuahua, Mexico	Head coach Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa) Assistant coach(es) Preston Murphy (Rhode Island) Alan Huss (Creighton) Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Australia exhibition trip
August 5, 2019* 3:00 am		at Basketball Australia Center of Excellence	L 66–79		20 – Ballock	8 – Jefferson	4 – Mitchell	Shore School  North Sydney, New South Wales
August 8, 2019* 5:30 am		at Cairns Taipans	W 89–85		18 – Mintz	6 – Jefferson	5 – Mintz	Cairns Convention Centre  Cairns City, Queensland
August 12, 2019* 4:00 am		at Bullets Invitational	W 107–79		25 – Bishop	8 – Jones	7 – Mintz	Auchenflower Stadium  Auchenflower, Queensland
Exhibition
November 1, 2019* 7:30 pm		McKendree	W 95–63		21 – Bishop	12 – Jones	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (15,340) Omaha, NE
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019* 8:00 pm, FSN		Kennesaw State	W 81–55	1–0	19 – Alexander	7 – Tied	5 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,321) Omaha, NE
November 12, 2019* 5:30 pm, FS1		at Michigan Gavitt Tipoff Games	L 69–79	1–1	20 – Alexander	9 – Jones	3 – Tied	Crisler Center (11,398) Ann Arbor, MI
November 16, 2019* 5:00 pm, FS2		Louisiana Tech	W 82–72	2–1	22 – Ballock	7 – Jefferson	5 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,919) Omaha, NE
November 22, 2019* 8:00 pm, FS1		Cal Poly Las Vegas Invitational campus game	W 86–70	3–1	18 – Zegarowski	8 – Jefferson	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,783) Omaha, NE
November 24, 2019* 1:00 pm, FS1		North Florida Las Vegas Invitational campus game	W 76–67	4–1	19 – Zegarowski	11 – Ballock	4 – Tied	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,562) Omaha, NE
November 28, 2019 9:30 pm, FS1		vs. San Diego State Las Vegas Invitational semifinal	L 52–83	4–2	12 – Ballock	5 – Bishop	2 – Tied	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
November 29, 2019 9:30 pm, FS1		vs. No. 12 Texas Tech Las Vegas Invitational 3rd place game	W 83–76 ^OT	5–2	32 – Zegarowski	12 – Alexander	5 – Zegarowski	Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV
December 3, 2019* 7:30 pm, FS1		Oral Roberts	W 72–60	6–2	17 – Bishop	8 – Tied	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,427) Omaha, NE
December 7, 2019* 1:30 pm, FS1		Nebraska Rivalry	W 95–76	7–2	30 – Zegarowski	9 – Tied	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (18,068) Omaha, NE
December 13, 2019* 7;00 pm, FS1		UTRGV	W 89–58	8–2	22 – Alexander	8 – Alexander	4 – Ballock	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,346) Omaha, NE
December 17, 2019* 7:30 pm, FS1		Oklahoma Big East/Big 12 Battle	W 83–73	9–2	20 – Zegarowski	11 – Alexander	7 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,146) Omaha, NE
December 21, 2019* 7:30 pm, P12N		at Arizona State	W 67–60	10–2	14 – Tied	9 – Bishop	8 – Zegarowski	Desert Financial Arena (9,395) Tempe, AZ
December 28, 2019* 5:00 pm, FS1		Midland	W 91–54	11–2	19 – Tied	11 – Jefferson	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (16,914) Omaha, NE
Big East regular season
January 1, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Marquette	W 92–75	12–2 (1–0)	21 – Alexander	8 – Tied	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center (17,289) Omaha, NE
January 4, 2020 11:00 am, FS1		at No. 11 Butler	L 57–71	12–3 (1–1)	15 – Zegarowki	7 – Alexander	4 – Alexander	Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,129) Indianapolis, IN
January 7, 2020 8:00 pm, FS1		No. 16 Villanova	L 59–64	12–4 (1–2)	16 – Bishop	9 – Bishop	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,682) Omaha, NE
January 11, 2020 1:00 pm, FOX		at Xavier	W 77–65	13–4 (2–2)	19 – Ballock	8 – Tied	5 – Tied	Cintas Center (10,529) Cincinnati, OH
January 15, 2020 6:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 25	at Georgetown	L 80–83	13–5 (2–3)	20 – Zegarowski	5 – Alexander	7 – Zegarowski	Capital One Arena (5,920) Washington, DC
January 18, 2020 3:30 pm, FS1	No. 25	Providence	W 78–74	14–5 (3–3)	24 – Alexander	10 – Jefferson	3 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,048) Omaha, NE
January 22, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN		DePaul	W 83–68	15–5 (4–3)	19 – Ballock	6 – Ballock	10 – Zegarowski	Wintrust Arena (4,535) Chicago, IL
January 26, 2020 3:00 pm, FS1		Xavier	W 77–66	16–5 (5–3)	24 – Alexander	5 – Tied	6 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,796) Omaha, NE
February 1, 2020 11:00 am, FS1		at No. 8 Villanova	W 76–61	17–5 (6–3)	21 – Mahoney	10 – Alexander	5 – Ballock	Wells Fargo Center (15,501) Philadelphia, PA
February 5, 2020 6:00 pm, FSN	No. 21	at Providence	L 56–73	17–6 (6–4)	15 – Alexander	5 – Tied	7 – Zegarowski	Dunkin Donuts Center (10,102) Providence, RI
February 8, 2020 5:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 21	St. John's	W 94–82	18–6 (7–4)	23 – Zegarowski	7 – Tied	8 – Ballock	CHI Health Center Omaha (18,122) Omaha, NE
February 12, 2020 5:30 pm, FS1	No. 23	at No. 10 Seton Hall	W 87–82	19–6 (8–4)	18 – Tied	9 – Jefferson	8 – Zegarowski	Prudential Center (9,736) Newark, NJ
February 15, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1	No. 23	DePaul	W 93–64	20–6 (9–4)	24 – Alexander	9 – Ballock	8 – Alexander	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,865) Omaha, NE
February 18, 2020 7:30 pm, FS1	No. 15	at No. 19 Marquette	W 73–65	21–6 (10–4)	22 – Alexander	8 – Jefferson	7 – Ballock	Fiserv Forum (14,329) Milwaukee, WI
February 23, 2020 3:00 pm, FS1	No. 15	No. 21 Butler	W 81–59	22–6 (11–4)	25 – Zegarowski	7 – Bishop	6 – Ballock	CHI Health Center Omaha (18,148) Omaha, NE
March 1, 2020 11:00 am, FS1	No. 10	at St. John's	L 71–91	22–7 (11–5)	20 – Jefferson	8 – Jefferson	5 – Bishop	Carnesecca Arena (4,260) Queens, NY
March 4, 2020 7:00 pm, FSN	No. 11	Georgetown	W 91–76	23–7 (12–5)	20 – Tied	6 – Jones	8 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (17,696) Omaha, NE
March 7, 2020 1:30 pm, FOX	No. 11	No. 8 Seton Hall	W 77–60	24–7 (13–5)	23 – Zegarowski	6 – Tied	5 – Zegarowski	CHI Health Center Omaha (18,519) Omaha, NE
Big East Tournament
March 12, 2020 12:00 pm, FS1	(1) No. 7	vs. (9) St. John's Quarterfinals	(35-38 canceled @ HT)					Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source[7][8]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	25	RV	RV	21	23	15	10	11	7	7
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	15	11	14	9	9-T

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

1. writer, Jon Nyatawa World-Herald staff. "Creighton falls to Xavier in Big East tourney, puts NCAA tournament hopes in jeopardy". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
2. writer, Jon Nyatawa World-Herald staff. "Creighton basketball will host renowned alum in NIT first round matchup with Loyola-Chicago". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
3. "Loyola (Chi) vs. Creighton - Game Recap - March 19, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
4. "Memphis vs. Creighton - Game Recap - March 22, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
5. "Creighton vs. TCU - Game Recap - March 26, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
6. reports, From staff. "TCU hands Creighton double-digit defeat; Jays' season ends in NIT quarterfinals". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
7. "2019-20 Creighton Bluejays Schedule Stats". ESPN. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
8. "Creighton University Athletics - 2019-20 (M) Basketball Schedule". gocreighton.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.