At least one Creighton basketball player still has a sour taste from last November's trip to Arkansas-Little Rock.

“We really want to come out and make a statement this year,'' Creighton guard P'Allen Stinnett said. “We want everyone to know that taste is still in our mouths. We owe these guys.''

The Trojans stunned the Bluejays on Mike Smith's basket with 7.1 seconds to play, which capped a second-half rally that produced a 71-69 victory. Creighton lost its next game, too, and the early losses undoubtedly played some role in its exclusion from the NCAA tournament in March.

The cast of characters has changed a bit for each team. At the same time, both teams return enough of the principal players from last season's basketball drama to add some spice to today's 2:05 p.m. game at Qwest Center Omaha.

Stinnett had a particularly rough night in Little Rock, missing 8 of 10 shots in scoring five points in 24 minutes. He also had two turnovers and no assists to go with two rebounds.

“As a player, you want to have a good game every night,'' Stinnett said. “We got beat by 20 on the boards, and we lost the game. Add to that, I really didn't have a very good one. That really has to change this game.''

Arkansas-Little Rock brings a 1-2 record into the game, while Creighton is 1-1 after bouncing back from a season-opening loss at Dayton with a victory over Florida A&M last Tuesday. Stinnett led the Bluejays with 18 points in the loss, then scored seven points in the victory.

What Stinnett once would have dismissed as an off-game because of the point production had other more distinguishing marks. He recorded three steals and continued to show a renewed vigor for contributing at the defensive end. He grabbed five rebounds and registered five assists to help offset his four turnovers. And he deferred the scoring load to hotter hands, taking only seven shots from the field.

“If he wouldn't have the turnovers, he would have had a really good game,'' Creighton coach Dana Altman said. “He did some good things defensively, and he blocked some people out and went to the boards.

“He's made a step, and I hope he continues to make steps in taking care of all facets of the game. It's a day-to-day process.''

Some of Stinnett's greatest growth, Altman said, has come in the day-to-day grind of practice. No longer does Stinnett seemed distracted or uninterested, as he sometimes did the previous two seasons. He has been positive with his teammates.

“He's had some really good practices, and he's done some things that have been much better for the team,'' Altman said. “He's definitely taken a big step, and there are still a lot of steps he can take yet.

“He's just done a much better job in all aspects.''

That's by design. Stinnett said before the season that he was intent on retooling his image. He wants to be recognized a great player rather than a problem child prone to emotional outbursts.

It's early, but the signs are that Stinnett is making progress not only in that area but also in expanding his game. He no longer wants to be defined by the points column in the box score.

“I didn't score so many points in the last game, but I tried to do other things on the court,'' he said. “I made an extra pass, I found an open teammate, I got a couple of steals, a couple of rebounds. It's little things like that that make a complete ballgame.

“I stated before the season that I wanted to let my game speak for itself and do all the little things that Coach Altman always fusses at us about. If I start doing that now, then later in the season when you get a little more fatigued that I'll be inclined to do those little things.''

• CU NOTES: Wayne Runnels has become the first Creighton player in 40 seasons to grab at least nine rebounds in each of his first two games. Cyril Baptiste, Denny Bresnahan and Nate Stephens were the last Bluejays to accomplish that feat, each doing it at the start of the 1969-70 season. ... The Bluejays don't want to give Arkansas-Little Rock's Solomon Bozeman an open look from 3-point range. The Trojans' leading scorer with a 15.0 average, Bozeman has made 9 of 18 shots from beyond the arc. That compares to 3 of 14 (21.4 percent) from 2-point range. ... Creighton leads the series 2-1, with both wins at home.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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