UConn vs. Creighton Prediction: Huskies Look for 15th Consecutive Win Against Creighton

On Tuesday night, the No. 1 UConn Huskies (24-2, 14-1 in Big East) take the long flight from Connecticut to Nebraska for a Big East battle with the No. 17 Creighton Bluejays (19-7, 10-5 in Big East.) UConn is nearing a Big East regular season title, and a win on the road against Creighton would all but seal the deal.

These two teams faced off earlier in the season, with the Huskies securing a 14-point home victory, 62-48. Holding the Bluejays to 48 points is quite the feat, considering they rank 18th in adjusted offensive efficiency (per KenPom.)

Can the Huskies secure their 15th consecutive Big East win on the road against the Creighton Bluejays? Find out below in our UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays preview, which includes our prediction and best betting picks for the game!

UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays Betting Odds for Tuesday, Feb. 20

After hammering the Creighton Bluejays by double-digit points in their first outing, the UConn Huskies roll into Nebraska as three-point road favorites. The point total for this Big East brawl rests at 146 points, with the Over and Under each holding -110 odds. At the time this was written, the Moneyline odds were not out for either team. 

Odds from BetMGM Sportsbook. Use our BetMGM promo code WSNMGM - bet $5, get $150 in bonus bets.

The Creighton Bluejays and the rest of the conference are too far behind the UConn Huskies to compete for the Big East regular season title. However, they can still help their Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament seedings with a massive win over the No. 1 ranked team in the nation on Tuesday night.

Creighton’s season has been a bit of a roller coaster, opening the 2023-24 regular season as the eighth-ranked team in America but dropping out of the A.P. Top 25 poll entirely by the beginning of January after registering three losses in a four-game stretch in December. Since then, the Bluejays have won ten of their next 13 games, with losses to Butler (home), Providence (road), and No. 1 UConn (road) being the only blips in that stretch. 

The Bluejays nearly made the 2023 Final Four last season but fell just one point short. While they lost Arthur Kaluma to Kansas State and Ryan Nembhard to Gonzaga, Creighton still returned Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. This trio could carry it to another Elite Eight. 

Additionally, Creighton snagged sniper Steven Ashworth and stretch forward Isaac Traudt in the transfer portal, rounding out its roster. However, the Bluejays can run into issues in games with higher intensity or if they get into foul trouble due to their top-heavy roster. Only six players log 11 or more minutes per game, with Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander averaging 37 minutes per outing. Creighton’s lack of bench depth is something to keep an eye on against a Huskies team that ranks 327th in adjusted tempo.

The bread and butter of this Bluejays team has been their shooting efficiency. They rank third in the nation in effective field goal percentage and score the 17th-most points on their home floor. Creighton’s ability to get hot from deep at any time makes it dangerous. There are multiple players for the Bluejays (Scheierman, Alexander, Ashworth who are shooting well below their capabilities but still can knock down shots.

For instance, Trey Alexander is shooting ten percent worse from deep this season than last, while Ashworth is hitting seven percent fewer of his three-point attempts. In the season before Scheierman arrived at Creighton, he was stripping 47% of his threes, but he is only knocking down 37% of them now. Regardless, these guys have a proven track record of elite three-point shooting and are due for positive regression. Hopefully, it will be in time for March Madness.

On the other side, the UConn Huskies had a sizable turnover from last season to this one, at least at the top of the roster. UConn lost Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Andre Jackson Jr. to the NBA but did have a trio of stars waiting in the wing: Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, and Alex Karaban. 

The Huskies also signed five-star freshman Stephon Castle, a likely lottery pick in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft, and corralled former Rutgers two-guard Cam Spencer in the transfer portal. These five players have meshed perfectly, creating a cohesive unit that has proven virtually unstoppable.

UConn ranks third in adjusted offensive efficiency and 11th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Further, it has the fifth-highest effective field goal percentage this season and the fourth-highest eFG% in the past three games. Connecticut also has the fifth-highest total rebounding rate and records the sixth-most assists per game nationally. 

Look at our UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays prediction and betting pick for this Big East battle below!

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UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays Prediction and Betting Pick

Creighton is going to be a tough matchup for the UConn Huskies for a multitude of reasons. First, the Bluejays are an excellent and disciplined defensive rebounding team, which will help mitigate Connecticut’s second-chance opportunities. 

Creighton ranks first in the nation in defensive rebounds per game and 25th in defensive rebounding percentage (eighth in its past three games). Ryan Kalkbrenner will be the key to shutting down Connecticut’s second-chance opportunities and points, as he has the size (7-foot-1), strength, and length to offset Donovan Clingan’s interior presence adequately. 

Or, at least, he should. The first matchup between these two teams did not go as planned, with the Huskies pulling down 22 offensive rebounds, but we expect a different result in this spot. CHI Health will be jumping, and the Bluejays will be much more focused this time.

Further, the Huskies have sometimes been susceptible to giving up clean looks from behind the arc on the road, allowing opponents to knock down just shy of 35% of their attempts. Creighton hits 37.3% of its threes on its home floor and this squad can get hot at any time. 

Even if the Huskies can run Creighton off the three-point line, the Bluejays still rank third nationally in two-point percentage (60.8%.) In their past three games, Creighton has been even better inside the arc, hitting 68.8% of those attempts, which is far and away the highest percentage in the country in that stretch.

This is also a letdown spot for the Huskies, who just decimated the then-fourth-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles by nearly 30 points at home.

• UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays pick: Creighton Bluejays +3 at BetMGM.

How to Watch UConn Huskies vs. Creighton Bluejays

• When: Tuesday, Feb. 20 @ 5:30/8:30 p.m. PT/ET

• Where: CHI Health Center, Omaha, NE

• TV: FoxSports

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