Creighton’s The Most Balanced Team That UNLV Will Face This Season
The Creighton vs UNLV Betting Preview Includes Analysis For Your Spread Bet
In the Jack Jones Classic, the Creighton Bluejays will face the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on the CBS Sports Network. While the game will be played in Nevada, this is still considered a neutral matchup with the game’s location at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
The Bluejays are sitting at 8-1 on the year. The one loss came against their most challenging opponent, the Colorado State Rams. The Rams earned a 69-48 win against Creighton, but the Bluejays have still stacked up wins against Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State this year.
Meanwhile, UNLV is 3-4. They’ve lost all three matchups on a neutral court and even lost a home game to Southern earlier in the year.
The Runnin’ Rebels have struggled on the defense this season. That’s probably not good news when going up against Creighton.
Oddsmakers agree. Creighton is still a 14.5-point favorite in Nevada, with the total sitting at 149. However, the -14.5 spread for Creighton is nearly even money at -105.
With that, let’s take a look at the Creighton vs UNLV betting preview below.
Creighton Bluejays vs UNLV Runnin’ Rebels
Date, time:
Location: Dollar Loan Center, Henderson, NV
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Creighton vs UNLV Betting Preview
This will be the first matchup between Creighton and UNLV since 1987.
Meanwhile, Creighton has gone 7-2 against the spread this season, while the Over has hit in five of nine games.
Currently, the Bluejays are on a three-game cover streak.
Meanwhile, UNLV is 2-5 against the spread and hasn’t covered a game since November 17. That was five games ago. The Runnin’ Rebels have lost against the spread in four straight games.
However, the Over has hit in six of seven games. That’s primarily due to the defense.
Let’s continue our Creighton vs UNLV betting preview below.
Creighton’s Efficiency Can’t Be Matched
The Creighton Bluejays have only had one hiccup all year. They’ve earned some dominant wins throughout the season, including a 29-point win over Nebraska and, most recently, a 109-64 win against Central Michigan.
Central Michigan is rated as the 317th-best team in college basketball. They’re not good. But a 45-point deficit against any division I team is impressive.
Head coach Greg McDermott believes that this Creighton team is his best shooting team that he’s ever had at Creighton. They’ve got more than a handful of guys that can consistently shoot the three-ball.
Can UNLV’s Basketball Team Keep The Community Together?
On December 6, UNLV’s campus had a mass shooting occur. There were four people killed, including the perpetrator. An additional person was wounded.
Because of that shooting, UNLV canceled an earlier game against Dayton and struggled in a semi-home game against Loyola Marymount in the first game back since that shooting took place.
Sports is something that can keep communities together during hard times like these. We send our best to those affected by the shooting.
UNLV’s Defense Won’t Be Good Enough
The Creighton Bluejays have one of the best offenses in the nation. Creighton has shot a 61.5% effective field goal percentage while shooting 40.2% from three and 62.7% from inside the arc.
With UNLV allowing teams to shoot 40.9% from three and 52.6% from inside the arc, it’s clear that Creighton will have a lot of open looks and easy shots against the Runnin’ Rebels.
The Bluejays won’t get to the foul line often. However, Creighton has limited turnovers to 14.7% while adding 31% of offensive rebounds.
The Runnin’ Rebels have allowed 30.4% of offensive rebounds. Therefore, Creighton should be able to earn some second chances in this game.
On the other hand, Creighton’s defense is also ranked in the top ten via KenPom’s adjusted efficiency ratings. The Bluejays have held teams to the lowest free throw attempt to field goal attempt ratio in college basketball.
They’ve also allowed only 21.4% of offensive rebounds and have held teams to a 43.5% effective field goal percentage.
These numbers prove that Creighton is a championship contender.
Meanwhile, UNLV has shot a 53.4% effective field goal percentage and has turned the ball over under 16% of the time. The Runnin’ Rebels have also shot 33.8% from three and 54.9% from inside the arc. Although UNLV won’t get great looks, the offense has still performed at a high level.
We won’t get a hectic game. Both teams will perform in the half-court and work defenses to get a good shot attempt. Neither team will earn a whole bunch of turnovers, and we won’t get many stoppages in this game, knowing both teams don’t get to the foul line often.
While Creighton will earn some stops and limit offensive rebounds, UNLV won’t.
It’s unlikely that UNLV will win the National Championship. However, Creighton is listed at +1600 odds to win March Madness. This NCAA basketball game should have plenty of scoring. But the college basketball lines that stick out the most are Creighton against the spread. The Bluejays will be too much for the Runnin’ Rebels to handle on both sides of the court. Take Creighton at -14.5 (-105).
