The Creighton Bluejays enter Wednesday night's game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers with a bit of momentum.
The Bluejays earned a solid 71-51 victory on Friday against the North Texas Mean Green, a team that was predicted to win the Sun Belt Conference this year.
"I'm glad to get this one past us, because I don't mind playing good teams as long as I know something about the good teams," coach Greg McDermott said to the Associated Press. "In this situation, we just didn't know much about North Texas outside of their personnel with the new coaching staff. It's good to get this one in the 'W' column and move on."
Creighton is ranked 15th in the nation and are going for their "39th consecutive regular-season victory over an unranked, non-conference opponent in Omaha on Wednesday night against Alabama-Birmingham," according to Associated Press.
The Bluejays shot the ball well against the Blazers, making 50 percent of their shots and were stellar on defense, allowing only two three-pointers .
"That's going to be a big part of who we are this season: devise our game plan and execute from that," Greg McDermott told the Bluejays' official website.
Doug McDermott, who is the son of coach McDermott, had a great game against the Blazers when they faced off last year scoring 27 points. According to the Associated Press, "the junior forward notched his 37th straight game in double figures with 21 points and 11 rebounds Friday."
Creighton is looking to improve defensively after an awful effort last season when the team was ranked 222nd in the nation in field goal percentage.
"Everybody has been talking about their defense," first-year North Texas coach Tony Benford said. "They did a great job on us inside, really packing it in and making it difficult for us to get in the paint."
UAB is a high-scoring team and will give Creighton a challenge when it comes to stopping the ball. The team is playing its second game under first-year head coach Jerod Haase, who replaced Mike Davis in the offseason.
The Blazers coasted to a 105-59 win to open the season, getting 17 points from both Jordan Swing and Robert Williams. The team shot over 50 percent and made 11 three-pointers.
According to the Associated Press, "UAB has dropped 19 straight road games against Top 25 teams since a 65-52 win at No. 20 Marquette on Jan. 7, 1998. Creighton, meanwhile, has not lost at home in the regular season to an unranked, non-conference opponent since a 64-58 defeat to Drexel on Feb. 17, 2007."
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