Creighton saw measured improvement from October to March with its NCAA Tournament first-round win over Iowa on Saturday. The No. 11 seed Bluejays next test their progress since November with a second-round matchup against No. 3-seeded host UCLA, Monday at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
"We're going to play another familiar foe because we did play UCLA," Creighton head coach JIm Flanery said following Saturday's 76-70 defeat of No. 6 seed Iowa. "What a great challenge that will be, but also a great opportunity."
Creighton (19-12) played Iowa in a preseason scrimmage, which guard Sydney Lamberty said "really helped" the Bluejays prepare for the Hawkeyes' transition offense. Creighton will again look to a previous encounter for its game plan, having lost to UCLA at the South Point Tournament in Las Vegas on Nov. 25.
"There's at least a road map for maybe what we can do," Flanery said of the 72-63 loss. "Rebounding and containing (UCLA guard Jordin) Canada will be huge, and we have to take risks. We're not going to beat UCLA if we don't take a risk or two."
UCLA (25-7) dominated the middle portion of that November matchup, outscoring the Bluejays in the second and third quarters, 40-21. The Bruins' first-round defeat of No. 14 seed American on Saturday had the opposite look, with UCLA racing to a big, early lead, at which the Eagles chipped away.
The Bruins held on for a 71-60 win, but not before surrendering 39.1 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line, and a 36-33 rebounding disadvantage. American turned its edge on the glass into 17 second-chance points.
"You can't go into March Madness and watch plays," UCLA coach Cori Close said in her postgame press conference. "There were opportunities where we could have made more plays, been more aggressive, had more of an aggressive mindset. We sort of thought, 'No, you go get the ball.' We would box out, but maybe they would be quicker to the ball."
A taller Iowa lineup outrebounded Creighton in the first round, 39-28, but a 14-7 edge in turnovers turned into a 10-5 advantage on points off turnovers. That was nearly the difference in the final score.
Similarly, UCLA beat American with a 15-8 advantage in turnovers that became a 15-9 points-off-turnovers edge.
"Our guards did a really nice job pressuring in the second quarter," said UCLA forward Monique Billings, whose 20 points and 10 rebounds paced UCLA in the first round. "They were just really aggressive and asserting themselves and the other team was frantic so I thought they did a really good job of that."
UCLA's ability to generate pressure on the perimeter contributes to a season-long plus-3.69 per game turnover margin. The Bruins have also been adept at parlaying takeaways into points, particularly in the November meeting with Creighton.
UCLA enjoyed a 20 to 7 gap in points off turnovers in that contest.
"They do a good job of mixing defenses and their pressure will be something that we have to address," Flanery said. "We can't have 16-to-20 turnovers."
Creighton's perimeter players must be cognizant of Canada, the speedy UCLA guard whose 3.16-per game steals average ranks No. 12 nationally. Canada and Billings both came away with three steals in the first round, helping key an early 22-3 run that gave the Bruins breathing room the rest of the way.
"When we're able to play aggressive and get stops, that's when we can go on those runs," Canada said.
