Creighton continues dominance at home against Bradley

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Creighton always seemed to bring its best games against Bradley in Omaha. Saturday wasn't any different as the Bluejays nabbed an 11-point victory and secured sole possession of fourth place in the final regular season Missouri Valley Conference standings.

The game might have been lopsided if it weren't for the standout performance by sophomore forward Taylor Brown, who finished with a career high 27 points. He made 12-of-21 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and was basically unstoppable the entire game.

Unfortunately for the Braves, Creighton got big contributions from up and down its lineup, especially from Kenny Lawson Jr. Just like Illinois State's Dinma Odikosa did earlier in the season, Lawson took advantage of a big weight differential against sophomore center Will Egolf. He finished with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting and snagged eight rebounds.

Of course, part of the problem is the Egolf is forced to play out of position due to Bradley's lack of a "bruiser" inside. But players like Lawson and Odiakosa are the primary reason why the Braves are 0-4 against Creighton and Illinois State. Egolf fouled out of this game, officially only playing five minutes while still contributing four points and five rebounds.

These little aspects are what have plagued Bradley the entire season. The bench has not been deep enough to adjust to the different lineups that other teams throw at them. The Braves have been much more successful against smaller, quicker teams.

Because looking at the stats, or even just getting a feel from watching the game, Bradley wasn't really bad yesterday. In fact, the Braves actually played okay but Creighton was just better. The Bluejays led slightly in shooting percentage (44.0-40.0), 3-pointers made (6-2) and free throws made (23-19). Most of the other points of comparison were negligible, which made for a fairly close game.

Probably the most surprising aspect of the game was the performance of freshman guard Jake Eastman, who scored a career high 13 points off the bench. He had been shooting under 50 percent from the free throw line and calmly knocked in all six attempts. Though he has shown some flashes of talent throughout the season, this was the first game Eastman really made a big contribution to a game. Hopefully he can build on this performance going into the MVC tournament and next year.

As great as Eastman and Brown were, guards Sam Maniscalco and Chris Roberts were equally as off. The two combined to make just 2-of-11 from the floor and score just eight points combined. Maniscalco's game was certainly unexpected considering the fact that he'd been playing so well and was on the floor for all 40 minutes.

Bradley will now get one more shot at Creighton, just like last season. The two will face-off in the 4-5 game of the MVC tournament on Friday. The old adage is that it's really tough to beat a team three times in a season. We'll see if that proves to be true this time around.