# 2018–19 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team represented Creighton University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bluejays were led by ninth-year head coach Greg McDermott and played their home games at the newly-named CHI Health Center Omaha, as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East tournament, they lost to Xavier in the quarterfinals. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the TCU bracket where they defeated Loyola and Memphis before losing to TCU in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Bluejays finished the 2017–18 season 21–12, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Providence. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the South Region. There the Bluejays lost in the first round to Kansas State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Marcus Foster | 0 | G | 6'3" | 215 | Senior (redshirt) | Wichita Falls, TX | Graduated |
| Khyri Thomas | 2 | G | 6'3" | 210 | Junior | Omaha, NE | Declared for the 2018 NBA draft; selected 38th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. |
| Ronnie Harrell | 5 | G | 6'7" | 195 | Junior (redshirt) | Denver, CO | Graduate transferred to Denver |
| Tyler Clement | 11 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Senior | Overland Park, KS | Graduated |
| Toby Hegner | 32 | F | 6'10" | 235 | Senior (redshirt) | Berlin, WI | Graduated |
| Manny Suarez | 44 | C | 6'10" | 250 | Senior (redshirt) | Cliffside Park, NJ | Graduated |
In addition to the departing players, top assistant Darian DeVries left to take the head coaching vacancy at Drake. He had been with Creighton since 1998, first as an equipment manager and then from 2001 as an assistant coach.

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Connor Cashaw | 2 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Graduate Student | Lincolnshire, IL | Transferred from Rice. Will be eligible to play immediately since Cashaw graduated from Rice. |
| Denzel Mahoney | 34 | G | 6'4" | 213 | Junior | Oviedo, FL | Transferred from Southeast Missouri State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Mahoney will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marcus Zegarowski PG | Hamilton, MA | Tilton School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 164 lb (74 kg) | Sep 4, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Christian Bishop SF | Lee's Summit, MO | Lee's Summit West High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 22, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Sam Froling PF | Canberra, ACT | Australian Institute of Sport | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jan 15, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 29, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Shereef Mitchell PG | Omaha, NE | Burke High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Jul 12, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 29, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 27, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Winona State | W 101–57 | – | 17 – Alexander | 7 – Epperson | 4 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (15,804) Omaha, NE |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:30 pm, FSN | | Western Illinois | W 78–67 | 1–0 | 13 – Tied | 12 – Jefferson | 5 – Ballock | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,449) Omaha, NE |
| November 11, 2018* 12:30 pm, FS1 | | East Tennessee State Cayman Islands Classic on-campus site | W 75–69 | 2–0 | 20 – Alexander | 3 – Froling | 3 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,506) Omaha, NE |
| November 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Ohio State Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 60–69 | 2–1 | 16 – Alexander | 7 – Krampelj | 3 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,146) Omaha, NE |
| November 19, 2018* 6:30 pm, Stadium | | vs. Boise State Cayman Islands Classic quarterfinals | W 94–82 | 3–1 | 18 – Alexander | 6 – Tied | 4 – Tied | John Gray High School (1,512) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 20, 2018* 6:30 pm, Stadium | | vs. Georgia State Cayman Islands Classic semifinals | W 93–68 | 4–1 | 23 – Ballock | 7 – Ballock | 6 – Ballock | John Gray High School (1,558) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 21, 2018* 6:30pm, Stadium | | vs. No. 16 Clemson Cayman Islands Classic championship | W 87–82 | 5–1 | 36 – Alexander | 5 – Zegarowski | 3 – Tied | John Gray High School (1,709) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 28, 2018* 7:30 pm, FS1 | | Montana | W 98–72 | 6–1 | 18 – Jefferson | 6 – Krampelj | 6 – Zegarowski | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,457) Omaha, NE |
| December 1, 2018* 1:00 pm, FOX | | No. 1 Gonzaga | L 92–103 | 6–2 | 27 – Alexander | 9 – Jefferson | 5 – Alexander | CHI Health Center Omaha (18,759) Omaha, NE |
| December 8, 2018* 5:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 24 Nebraska Rivalry | L 75–94 | 6–3 | 23 – Ballock | 5 – Tied | 3 – Alexander | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,950) Lincoln, NE |
| December 14, 2018* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Green Bay | W 86–65 | 7–3 | 19 – Ballock | 9 – Jefferson | 6 – Alexander | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,147) Omaha, NE |
| December 18, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Oklahoma | W 83–70 | 7–4 | 19 – Krampelj | 10 – Krampelj | 2 – Tied | Lloyd Noble Center (4.480) Norman, OK |
| December 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Coe | W 110–60 | 8–4 | 20 – Zegarowski | 7 – Cashaw | 7 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,328) Omaha, NE |
| December 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | UMKC | W 89–53 | 9–4 | 19 – Alexander | 8 – Krampelj | 6 – Mintz | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,608) Omaha, NE |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 31, 2018 3:00 pm, FS1 | | at Providence | W 79–68 | 10–4 (1–0) | 18 – Alexander | 9 – Krampelj | 6 – Ballock | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,343) Providence, RI |
| January 5, 2019 11:00 am, FS1 | | at Butler | L 69–84 | 10–5 (1–1) | 16 – Krampelj | 8 – Krampelj | 5 – Zegarowski | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,148) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 9, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 21 Marquette | L 104–106 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 (1–2) | 23 – Alexander | 8 – Krampelj | 4 – Ballock | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,085) Omaha, NE |
| January 13, 2019 11:00 am, FOX | | Villanova | L 78–90 | 10–7 (1–3) | 22 – Alexander | 10 – Krampelj | 7 – Zegarowski | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,379) Omaha, NE |
| January 16, 2019 5:30 pm, FS1 | | at St. John's | L 66–81 | 10–8 (1–4) | 17 – Zegarowsi | 9 – Krampelj | 4 – Tied | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| January 21, 2019 7:45 pm, FS1 | | at Georgetown | W 91–87 | 11–8 (2–4) | 26 – Alexander | 8 – Krampelj | 4 – Tie | Capital One Arena (5,230) Washington, D.C. |
| January 25, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Butler | W 75–61 | 12–8 (3–4) | 19 – Alexander | 8 – Krampelj | 6 – Mintz | CHI Health Center Omaha (18,089) Omaha, NE |
| January 30, 2019 7:30 pm, FS1 | | St. John's | L 67–83 | 12–9 (3–5) | 15 – Alexander | 5 – Bzllock | 7 – Mintz | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,832) Omaha, NE |
| February 3, 2019 12:00 pm, FSN | | Xavier | W 76–54 | 13–9 (4–5) | 23 – Krampelj | 6 – Krampelj | 3 – Tied | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,678) Omaha, NE |
| February 6, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 14 Villanova | L 59–66 | 13–10 (4–6) | 19 – Mintz | 10 – Krampelj | 4 – Mintz | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| February 9, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Seton Hall | L 58–63 | 13–11 (4–7) | 25 – Krampelj | 11 – Krampelj | 5 – Mintz | Prudential Center (9,681) Newark, NJ |
| February 13, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Xavier | L 61–64 | 13–12 (4–8) | 18 – Krampelj | 10 – Alexander | 5 – Alexander | Cintas Center (9,949) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 17, 2019 2:00 pm, FS1 | | Seton Hall | L 75–81 | 13–13 (4–9) | 20 – Alexander | 8 – Ballock | 5 – Mintz | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,036) Omaha, NE |
| February 20, 2019 8:00 pm, FSN | | at DePaul | W 79–67 | 14–13 (5–9) | 16 – Alexander | 7 – Krampelj | 6 – Alexander | Wintrust Arena (4,238) Chicago, IL |
| February 23, 2019 1:40 pm, FOX | | Georgetown | W 82–69 | 15–13 (6–9) | 22 – Krampelj | 9 – Krampelj | 6 – Ballock | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,358) Omaha, NE |
| March 3, 2019 2:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 10 Marquette | W 66–60 | 16–13 (7–9) | 19 – Krampelj | 7 – Alexander | 5 – Zegarowski | Fiserv Forum (17,512) Milwaukee, WI |
| March 6, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Providence | W 76–70 $^{OT}$ | 17–13 (8–9) | 17 – Alexander | 10 – Krampelj | 3 – Krampelj | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,903) Omaha, NE |
| March 9, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | DePaul | W 91–78 | 18–13 (9–9) | 39 – Ballock | 10 – Krampelj | 10 – Zegarowski | CHI Health Center Omaha (17,083) Omaha, NE |
| Big East Tournament |||||||||
| March 14, 2019 1:30 pm, FS1 | (5) | vs. (4) Xavier Quarterfinals | L 61–63 | 18–14 | 21 – Alexander | 9 – Krampelj | 3 – Tie | Madison Square Garden (19,534) New York, NY |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 19, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | (2) | (7) Loyola–Chicago First Round – TCU Bracket | W 70–61 | 19–14 | 17 – Krampelj | 8 – Krampelj | 7 – Alexander | CHI Health Center Omaha (5,755) Omaha, NE |
| March 22, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) | (3) Memphis Second Round – TCU Bracket | W 79–67 | 20–14 | 14 – Ballock/Zegarowski | 10 – Bishop | 8 – Zegarowski | CHI Health Center Omaha (7,031) Omaha, NE |
| March 26, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | at (1) TCU Quarterfinals – TCU Bracket | L 58–71 | 20–15 | 14 – Ballock | 6 – Bishop | 2 – Tied | Schollmaier Arena (3,314) Fort Worth, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||