Trying to figure out how Creighton went from the team that couldn’t shoot straight to one that set a school record for field-goal accuracy?

Don’t stress your brain, Bluejays coach Dana Altman said.

“I don’t think the looks we’re getting are any different than we’ve had,” Altman said. “You look at the stats, and Drake shot it pretty well against us. They went to Bradley and went 4-for-20 something.

“You’re going to have nights where looks are pretty good and the shots just don’t fall.”

Creighton has had plenty of those in its 12-11 season. Before Wednesday’s record-setting game against Evansville, the Bluejays had shot 50 percent or better from the field in two of their first 22 games. Five times, Creighton finished a game shooting less than 40 percent.

The Bluejays’ aim from 3-point range has been even worse. They went into the game against the Purple Aces ranked last in the Missouri Valley Conference in 3-point shooting (.324). The Bluejays had 12 games in which they shot below that mark, including contests in which they finished at 10, 15.8, 18.2 and 19 percent from beyond the arc.

Then came the Evansville game. The Bluejays made 10 of 18 3-pointers (a season-high 55.6 percent) and 28 of 42 shots overall (a school-record 66.7 percent).

Creighton hopes it can come close to matching that torrid shooting when it faces Missouri State at 7:05 tonight in Springfield, Mo. The Bears are 15-8 overall but 11-2 at home, with the losses coming by a combined four points. Missouri State is 5-7 in the Valley, CU 7-5.

Despite having just seven regular-season games left, Altman said, Creighton is still struggling to find itself.

“We have to keep getting better in all areas,” he said. “We still get stagnant on offense and our movement isn’t what it should be. Defensively, we’re still making so many mistakes. We still have a lot of work to do in all areas.

“I don’t think there’s one area that we’re completely deficient at, but there also is not one phase of the game where we feel real good about what we’re doing. The teams that aren’t getting better in February aren’t playing much in March.”

One phase of the game that Creighton has to concern itself with tonight is find a way to neutralize Missouri State’s offensive rebounding. The Bears rank second in the league in offensive rebounds at 11.3 per game. In conference games, Missouri State ranks first at 12 per game.

“That was a major emphasis for us going into the season,’’ Missouri State coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Our big guys do a great job of boxing out, and we have guards that can go crash the glass and keep the ball alive.

“Getting those extra baskets around the rim really helps out a lot.’’

Missouri State got 11 offensive rebounds that produced eight points in the 76-72 loss to Creighton two weeks ago in Omaha. The Bears led that game by six with 11:51 to play before the Bluejays rallied.

Missouri State got a career-high 18 points from Nafis Ricks, a 6-foot-1 junior guard whose play has picked up the past eight games. Ricks, the national junior college player of the year last season, has averaged 10.1 points and 3.1 assists after enduring a six-game stretch in which he scored a total of 10 points.

The improvement in Ricks’ play, Martin said, is not uncommon for junior college transfers. Many transfers spend the first half of the season trying to establish themselves and adjust their games to the Division I level.

“That’s especially true when you have guys with an offensive mind-set like Nafis,’’ Martin said. “He’s also playing more at the point, and that’s not an easy thing (adjustment) to do. He struggled early.”

• NOTES: Creighton leads the series 30-22, winning the past eight meetings. That’s the longest streak of wins that the Bluejays have had over the Bears. ... Cavel Witter had a season-high five assists against Evansville. It marked the ninth time in Witter’s career that he has registered five or more assists in a game. The Bluejays are 8-1 in those contests. ... Missouri State leads the league in scoring at 73.5 points per game.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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