Creighton

Creighton G P'Allen Stinnett Suspended Indefinitely

Press Release — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:21:28 -0500

OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton men's basketball head coach Dana Altman has announced the indefinite suspension of P'Allen Stinnett for conduct not acceptable to the team.

Stinnett, a junior guard from Las Vegas, Nevada, is the team's second-leading scorer at 9.2 points per game and has started 15-of-20 games this season.

Creighton, tied for third place in the Missouri Valley Conference, plays next at Bradley on Wednesday.

Altman stated he would have no additional comment on the matter at this time.

-- Creighton Sports Information

-- For more info, see the following story in the Omaha World-Herald

College Hoops Tuesday Recap: Mountaineers Survive Marquette

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:10:50 -0500

Sandwiched in between an instant classic of a league opener at Seton Hall and a showdown on New Year's Day at Purdue maybe a letdown of sorts was expected from West Virginia. Not to mention the presence of an underdog in Marquette looking to serve notice that they'll be better than the 12th-place spot predicted by the Big East's coaches and it wouldn't have been a huge shock if the Mountaineers fell. But these are the kinds of games that teams aspiring for bigger things in March (and April) find a way to win, and WVU did exactly that by the final score of 63-62 thanks to Devin Ebanks, Da'Sean Butler and some poor late-game foul shooting.

Butler knocked down a contested 20-footer (I don't know how much better that shot could have been defended without fouling) with two seconds remaining to cap a comeback from five down with less than a minute left in the game. Missed free throws from Darius Johnson-Odom and Jimmy Butler set the stage for the amazing comeback, and Butler played lights out over the final twelve minutes, scoring eight points and leaving his fingerprints on the final stages of the game. In fact West Virginia's "big three" (Butler, Ebanks and Kevin Jones) scored 54 of their 63 points, shooting 24-38 from the field while the other Mountaineers were a combined 4-17.

Lazar Hayward led all scorers with twenty-four points for the Golden Eagles, who essentially handed away a game that they had well within their grasp. But while the senior received scoring help from Johnson-Odom (14 points) Marquette didn't have much of an answer for Ebanks, who led WVU with nineteen (8-12 FG) and changed the tone of halftime with a three pointer as time expired, cutting the Golden Eagle lead down from seven to four (37-33). But as good as the win feels for the Mountaineers there's little rest to be had: two days (in addition to travel) sits between them and #4 Purdue in West Lafayette.

Three Key Happenings

1. Xavier handles LSU in Cincinnati. It may be a stretch to say that this was a "must-win" for both teams but it may have been for the Tigers, who remain without a road/neutral win this season as a result of the 89-65 defeat. Terrell Holloway led the Musketeers from the point with 20 points and Kenny Frease celebrated his first start with twelve rebounds as Xavier outrebounded LSU 53-37 in a dominant performance. The Tigers shot just 34.9% from the field (1-14 3PT) and watched Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer shoot a combined 12-36 from the field. Xavier proved to be deeper as well, with Jamel McLean leading the reserves with ten points and ten rebounds. At the least LSU could have used a close loss on the road, but the Atlantic 10 contenders were in no mood to cooperate.

2. Creighton may be in serious trouble and they've only played one league game. It's not as if the Blue Jays lost to a bad team; Ben Jacobson's Northern Iowa Panthers are a very good basketball team (now 10-1, 1-0 MVC). But something's been amiss with Dana Altman's team for seemingly the entire season; they're a team with more talent than their 5-7 record may suggest. In a game matching the top two picks in the Valley's preseason media poll, Creighton managed just eighteen first-half points in their 60-52 loss to the preseason favorite. Ali Farokhmanesh and Kwadzo Ahelegbe combined to score 27 points in the win while Cavel Witter led the Blue Jays with fourteen.

Witter and Wayne Runnells were two of the three players to make more than one field goal and they both come off the bench. Antoine Young was the lone starter to do so, making four while the other starters combined for just three field goals. When Kenny Lawson Jr. and P'Allen Stinnett combine to shoot 2-for-12 you're not winning and those are two guys that Creighton needs going in order to be a factor in the MVC race. In Creighton's seven losses Stinnett, who at one point last year was a Valley Player of the Year candidate, has shot under fifty percent from the field in six of them. The Blue Jays have looked out of sync offensively for a good portion of the season thus far and if they don't get it corrected soon things can head downhill quickly in a much-improved league.

3. Guess Houston needs a refresher on how important defense is. Either that or they'd like to be an NIT team in March. The Cougars fell to Louisiana Tech 99-94 at home thanks to the Bulldogs shooting 51.4% from the field and finishing a +12 in points from the foul line. Tom Penders' team plays an entertaining brand of basketball and can score with most of the teams in America. But when you lack the ability to get a crucial stop or two at the end of games more often than not you're going to lose games like these. And given how close Houston, UTEP, Memphis, UAB and Tulsa are at the top of Conference USA that could be all the difference between having a shot at an at-large going into the conference tournament and needing to run the table.

Louisiana Tech turned the ball over twenty times but made up for that with a 48-30 edge on the board and double-doubles from Magnum Rolle (29 points, 10 rebounds) and Olu Ashaolu (17 points, 21 rebounds) to go with 28 points from Kyle Gibson. Houston ranks dead last in both field goal percentage and rebounding margin, and outside of Memphis being eighth in rebounding margin the other four teams listed above rank in the top half of Conference USA in both categories. That simply will not get it done for Houston.

Top Three Games

1. West Virginia 63, Marquette 62 See above.

2. Rhode Island 80, Drexel 79 Keith Cothran scored four points to cut a 79-74 Drexel lead down to one within 23 seconds and Lamonte Ulmer tapped in his missed jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining to give the Rams the victory. Cothran led all scorers with 28 points while Chris Fouch led the Dragons with 23.

3. Cornell 78, La Salle 75 Ryan Wittman scored a career-high 34 points and became the school's all-time leading scorer as the Big Red moved their win streak to eight. Rodney Green led the Explorers with nineteen points.

Three Notable Performances

1. F Wesley Johnson (Syracuse) Johnson scored 20 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked five shots in the Orange's 80-73 win at Seton Hall.

2. C Olu Ashaolu (Louisiana Tech) and Herb Pope (Seton Hall) Both accomplished double-doubles in which they had more rebounds than points. Ashaolu went for 17 points and 21 rebounds in the Bulldogs' 99-94 win at Houston while Pope scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the Pirates' loss to Syracuse.

3. G John Wall (Kentucky) Wall may have scored just nine points but he also set the school record for assists in a game with sixteen in the Wildcats' 104-61 win over Hartford.

Random Fact: Two career scoring records fell on Tuesday. Ryan Wittman (Cornell) and James Florence (Mercer) both took over the top spot in their school's record book.

MVC Basketball Preview: 2009-10

CHN — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:13:47 -0500

The MVC race is always up for grabs, and perhaps another surprise team like UNI lurks. Perhaps no league has as much parity as the Valley, where even the bottom teams are improved.

Conference Rank: 8th

10 year average: 9th

MVC Conference Page

All-MVC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Osiris Eldridge	Illinois St	Jr
G	Josh Young	Drake	Jr
G	P'Allen Stinnett	Creighton	So
G	Adam Koch	Northern Iowa	Sr
F	Dinma Odiakosa	Illinois St	Sr

Player of the Year - Osiris Eldridge Freshman of the Year - Ben Simons (Drake)
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
High-Major All-Americans Osiris Eldridge (1st Team) Adam Koch (3rd) P'Allen Stinnett (3rd) Josh Young (3rd) Kevin Dillard Dinma Odiakosa		Points: Josh Young 15.4 Rebounds: Dinma Odiakosa 7.5 Assists: Clevin Hannah 4.3

MVC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

41	Creighton	MVC	1	NCAA
59	Northern Iowa	MVC	2	NIT
72	Bradley	MVC	3	NIT
76	Illinois State	MVC	4	NIT
94	Wichita State	MVC	5	CBI/CIT
117	Southern Illinois	MVC	6	CBI/CIT
137	Indiana State	MVC	7
154	Drake	MVC	8
203	Evansville	MVC	9
228	Missouri State	MVC	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MVC?

College Basketball Preview - 348 Team Ranking - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

MVC Preseason Poll & Awards

Press Release — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:56:24 -0400

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Northern Iowa men's basketball team has been picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the preseason poll announced today during the league's annual Basketball Media Day.

Northern Iowa, which returns all five starters after sharing the regular-season title with Creighton last year, earned 38 of 39 first-place votes in the survey of league coaches, beat writers, sports information directors and play-by-play men.

Pollsters have accurately predicted the league's regular-season champ only 11 times out of 25 since 1985-86. Two teams have been picked for second place but gone on to take the regular-season crown, Southern Illinois in both 2002-03 and 2006-07.

The preseason poll doesn¹t always match the year-end standings. Last year's Northern Iowa was picked sixth and ended up in a tie for first. The year before that, Drake was picked ninth, only to finish 28-5 and win the league title.

2009-10 MVC Preseason Poll
Rk.    School (1st place votes)    Total
1.    Northern Iowa (38)    389
2.    Creighton (1)    336
3.    Illinois State    299
4.    Southern Illinois    272
5.    Wichita State    216
6.    Bradley    208
7.    Indiana State    173
8.    Drake    105
9.    Missouri State    92
10.    Evansville    55
Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors and media.

Preseason All-MVC Team
Osiris Eldridge*, Sr., G, Illinois State
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Jr., G, Northern Iowa
Tony Freeman, Sr., G, Southern Illinois
Adam Koch, Sr., F, Northern Iowa
P¹Allen Stinnett, Jr., G, Creighton
Josh Young, Sr., G, Drake
*Preseason Player of the Year

Honorable Mention:
Kevin Dillard, Southern Illinois
Clevin Hannah, Wichita State
Jake Kelly, Indiana State
Sam Maniscalco, Bradley
Harry Marshall, Indiana State
Toure¹ Murry, Wichita State

MVC Preseason Poll & Awards

Press Release — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:10:19 -0400

ST. LOUIS - UNI, which returns all five starters and nine of 10 players from last year’s regular-season co-champ and State Farm MVC Tournament winner, has been picked to earn the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball title in 2009-10.

The Panthers are hoping the pollsters are correct, although recent history could suggest otherwise, as only once in the past four years has the pre-season poll correctly picked the regular-season champ (last year Creighton was picked to win and shared the regular-season title with UNI, which was picked to finish sixth.)

The Panthers - also picked to win by The Sporting News College Basketball Preview, Lindy’s College Basketball Preview, and Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview - join a small group of defending Missouri Valley men’s basketball champs to return all five starters.

It marks the second time in league history the Panthers have been pegged as the preseason favorites. UNI was also picked to win the league in 2005-06. UNI finished fifth in the conference race in 2005-06, but earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

MVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
School (First-Place Votes) Total
1. UNI (38)......................389
2. Creighton (1).................336
3. Illinois State................299
4. Southern Illinois.............272
5. Wichita State.................216
6. Bradley.......................208
7. Indiana State.................173
8. Drake.........................105
9. Missouri State.................92
10. Evansville....................55
Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors, media, and coaches.

2009-10 MVC Preseason All-Conference Team
Name, School, Pos., Ht., Wt., Year, Hometown, High School
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, UNI, G, 6-2, 200, Jr., Oakdale (Minn.) Tartan High
Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State, G, 6-3, 215, Sr., Chicago (Ill.) Phillips Academy
Tony Freeman, Southern Illinois, G, 6-1, 195, Sr., Maywood (Ill.) St. Joseph’s/Iowa
Adam Koch, UNI, F, 6-8, 255, Sr., Ashwaubenon (Wis.) High
P’Allen Stinnett, Creighton, G, 6-3, 180, Jr., Las Vegas (Nev.) Brewster Academy [N.H.]
Josh Young, Drake, G, 6-1, 174, Sr., Lawton (Okla.) Lawton Christian High

Honorable Mention: Kevin Dillard, Southern Illinois; Clevin Hannah, Wichita State; Jake Kelly, Indiana State; Sam Maniscalco, Bradley; Harry Marshall, Indiana State; Toure’ Murry, Wichita State

Preseason Player of the Year - Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State

Poll: Who Will Win the MVC?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:33:53 -0400

Creighton Basketball Preview: #41

Joel Welser — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:41:13 -0400

Overall Rank: #41

Conference Rank: #1 Missouri Valley Conference

2008-09: 27-8, 14-4

2008-09 postseason: NIT

Coach: Dana Altman (308-160 at Creighton, 391-227 overall)

Creighton was as close as anybody to making it into the NCAA Tournament. Instead they had to settle for the NIT. The Missouri Valley Conference’s most dangerous team always aims for the NCAA Tournament and this year will be no different even without point guard Josh Dotzler and super shooter Booker Woodfox.

Key Losses: G Josh Dotzler, F Kenton Walker, G Booker Woodfox

Key Newcomers:

However, Coach Dana Altman has brought in plenty of talented newcomers who can help out on the perimeter. Junior college transfers Darryl Ashford and Wayne Runnels are both capable of immediately bolstering the offensive spark from the wing. Point guard Andrew Brock is the most highly touted of the incoming freshmen and should be the backup point guard from day one. Big 6-8 wing Ethan Wragge and redshirt freshman Josh Jones will provide even more depth.

Backcourt:

Woodfox led the team with 15.8 points per game and connected on an incredible 47.6 percent of his attempts from long range. It will take more than one player to replace Woodfox, but the Bluejays have a surprising amount of options. P’Allen Stinnett is not nearly as consistent of a shooter, but he does a great job of getting to the basket. Cavel Witter was a superb sixth man last year and might be again this year after averaging 7.7 points during his first season in Omaha, Nebraska. The most important backcourt player could be wing Justin Carter. He averaged 8.1 points and a team high 5.5 rebounds from the power forward position last season. With the talent on the wings, it is likely that Creighton will once again put the 6-4 Carter at the four spot and play small.

Frontcourt:

Playing small works alright when you have so much talent on the perimeter, but it would be helpful if Kenny Lawson was a better rebounder. The Bluejays were consistently outrebounded last year and there is no reason for that to be any different this time around. However, Lawson does give this team a quality interior scoring threat and that opens up space for the shooters and slashers on the wing. Without Kenton Walker to provide depth up front, it will be up to Casey Harriman to turn into a more productive player. Harriman, at 6-5, does not have the size to play the five spot, but he is a decent outside shooter who can give Carter a break at the four spot and give the team a little more size.

Who to Watch:

Antoine Young spent his freshman season learning from Josh Dotlzer. While Dotzler was a true point guard in every sense of the phrase, Young can add a little more scoring punch to the point guard position. And without Woodfox, that might not be a bad thing. However, Young is still pretty inexperienced and has to emerge as a leader of this team and, more importantly, keep the turnovers down.

Final Projection:

The lack of size on this team is pretty alarming. Lawson averaged less than 20 minutes per game last season and somebody has to be the big body in the middle. Chad Millard is an experienced option, but he averaged less than ten minutes per game last year. The good news is that Lawson rarely gets into foul trouble and if he can physically play 25 to 30 minutes per game it would go a long way to helping this team get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Antoine Young, Sophomore, Guard, 4.9 points per game

Cavel Witter, Senior, Guard, 7.7 points per game

P’Allen Stinnett, Junior, Guard, 12.5 points per game

Justin Carter, Senior, Forward, 8.1 points per game

Kenny Lawson, Junior, Center, 8.5 points per game

Next Top 144 Teams
42		43		44		45

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews - Preview Interviews

Poll: Who Was the Biggest Tournament Snub?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:51:42 -0400

Creighton: 2009 NIt

Joel Welser — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:52:16 -0400

Creighton Bluejays

Missouri Valley Conference (26-7, 14-4)

NIT Seed: #1

RPI: 40

Big Wins: 12/10 Dayton (77-59), 2/8 at Northern Iowa (77-71), 2/21 George Mason (76-63)

Bad Losses: 11/25 at Arkansas Little Rock (69-71), 1/17 at Wichita State (61-74), 1/24 Drake (62-74)

Coach: Dana Altman

Probable Starters:

Josh Dotzler, Senior, Guard, 3.2 ppg, 3.4 apg

Booker Woodfox, Senior, Guard, 15.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg

P’Allen Stinnett, Sophomore, Guard, 12.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg

Justin Carter, Junior, Guard, 7.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg

Kenny Lawson Jr., Sophomore, Center, 8.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.6 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

Casey Harriman, Sophomore, Forward, 3.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Kaleb Korver, Sophomore, Guard, 3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Kenton Walker, Sophomore, Forward, 5.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg

Cavel Witter, Junior, Guard, 8.1 ppg, 2.3 apg

Antoine Young, Freshman, Guard, 4.9 ppg, 1.4 apg

Why They Can Surprise:

Creighton is a great three-point shooting team and Booker Woodfox is the main reason. The 6-1 senior hits an amazing 48.9 percent of his attempts from long range. That is the best percentage in the nation. And it is not like he does not take a lot of three-pointers; he knocks down 2.7 per contest. In fact, Woodfox almost shoots better from beyond the arc than he does inside of it. But Woodfox does mix up his game and will get to the basket as well and that part of his game is even more effective since he shoots 87.6 percent from the charity stripe.

Woodfox is not the only shooter and scorer on the perimeter. Starter P’Allen Stinnett and sixth man Cavel Witter are also dangerous outside shooters. Even Kaleb Korver can come in off the bench and knock down a few long balls and spark the offense. When all those guys are hitting their shots, the Bluejays are a tough team to outscore.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Creighton has so much talent on the perimeter that it has a negative effect on the frontcourt. Justin Carter starts at the four spot and he is a 6-4 guard. Carter is a decent rebounder, but when the team lacks size like Creighton does, they will get beat on the glass consistently. Kenny Lawson, Jr. is the big man in the paint. He is a solid scorer around the basket and a good shot blocker, but he is not the greatest rebounder and the Bluejays have to get some production in that department from reserve forwards Kenton Walker and Casey Harriman.

Who To Watch:

Josh Dotzler does not get the publicity of the outside shooters, but he is the guy that makes the offense tick. The 6-1 senior is a pure point guard in every possible way. He rarely scores, or even looks to score, and instead will spend his time setting up his teammates. His assist numbers are not through the roof, but Dotzler has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the nation. Dotzler is also a superb defender who will shut down some great scorers. Freshman Antoine Young is not the experienced ball handler that Dotzler is, but he is emerging as a competent back-up point guard who can add a little more offense than Dotzler.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 73.6 (79^th in nation, 1^st in conference)

Scoring Defense: 65.4 (107, 7)

Field-Goal Percentage: 44.6 (123, 3)

Field-Goal Defense: 42.1 (111, 4)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.0 (35, 3)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.3 (30, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 75.1 (18, 3)

Rebound Margin: -3.4 (292, 10)

Assists Per Game: 14.0 (101, 2)

Turnovers Per Game: 12.3 (42, 2)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to UNLV