| Colleen Seabaugh Sports Editor | November 12, 2009 |
Junior forward Wayne Runnels scored 12 points and seven rebounds for the Jays during his 22 minutes of play in the exhibition match against UNO.
This year the Jays were tabbed to finish second in the MVC. The University of Northern Iowa received the 38 of the 39 first-place votes and 389 out of a maximum 390 points to secure the preseason favorite spot. The Jays snatched the one remaining first-place vote and received 336 points to land in second, ahead of Illinois State with 299 points. This season’s Evansville team is tabbed to finish last in the MVC, with only 55 points in the vote.
The Jays aren’t bothered by their second seeding. Since the 1985-86 season, the preseason polls have correctly predicted the league’s regular-season champion only 11 times.
The inaccuracy was shown by last season’s Northern Iowa team, which finished the season in a tie for first after being picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
“We just know that we have to go out and take care of business and play up to our potential as a team,” freshman forward Matt Dorwart said. “We know that we have the potential to be a really good team so we just have to play like it.”
This season the Jays return eight players, including three starters from last year’s 20-win season. Among those returning are junior guard P’Allen Stinnett, who was the leading scorer for the Jays with 12.5 points per game; junior center Kenny Lawson Jr., who had 8.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks per game; and senior forward Justin Carter, who helped the team with 8.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.
However, the Jays are going to have to start the regular season without Carter. He will miss the next four to six weeks while he recovers from a knee injury sustained in the Sunday exhibition win against the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the Qwest Center Arena.
With about eight minutes left in the game, Carter slipped on a wet spot on the floor while trying to make a move to the basket. He immediately crumpled to the floor, grabbing his knee. He was eventually carried off the court.
“With Justin out for a while now, we gotta prepare [for Dayton] even harder,” junior forward Wayne Runnels said. “We’re all looking forward to it, it should be an exciting game!”
The team has five freshmen on the roster and two transfers. Runnels transferred to Creighton from Northern Oklahoma College-Enid. He chose Creighton because of the excellent coaching staff and the huge fan support.
“My experience at my junior college was an unforgettable one,” Runnels said. “I made lifetime friends, but as far as athletics it wasn’t nearly as a big of a deal as it is here nor was it as competitive. The competition level here is out the roof. Everyone is fighting for playing time which makes it very competitive in practice every day.”
The Jays are entering the regular season on a roll after winning both their exhibition games. They topped Missouri Western State University 94-69, and followed that up with a 93-77 win over UNO. Those preseason games gave the team a chance to figure out what needs work.
“After the two exhibition games, we realized we have a lot of work to do on rebounding, defending and communicating on the court,” Lawson said. “The two preseason games were good to get guys back in the swing of things, and newcomers some game experience in front of a crowd, but I think once we go on the road, we will be more experienced because of the fact that we all have a couple of preseason games under our belt in front of a crowd, especially considering Dayton’s crowd will be fired up and cheering against us.”
They will start their season on the road against No. 21 Dayton, then return home for two-games.
“Starting the season on the road is definitely going to be a tougher task than starting it in Omaha like we have done in previous years, especially with a top 25 team nationally,” Lawson said. “We are going to have to make quicker adjustments and be prepared a lot quicker because we are opening up our season against a tough opponent and also in an arena full of fans cheering against us.”
In order to level up, the Jays must face Dayton in its arena.
| Related Links for this Story: gocreighton.com |
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