No. 7 Creighton upset by Marquette in first game without Maurice Watson

Katin Reinhardt led Marquette with 21 points in an upset over No. 7 Creighton. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Creighton’s first game without Maurice Watson Jr. did not go well.

Five days after Watson, the nation’s assists leader, was lost for the season with a torn ACL, the seventh-ranked Bluejays (18-2, 5-2 Big East) dropped just their second game of the season in a 102-94 home decision to Marquette. The game was not as close as the final score may indicate.

Behind 17 first-half points off the bench from graduate transfer Katin Reinhardt, the Golden Eagles (13-6, 4-3) closed the half on a 14-5 run to take a 10-point lead at the break. Marquette continued to pick apart Creighton in the second half, getting good looks inside and out. The lead grew to as large as 19 before the Bluejays made things a bit more interesting in the final minutes, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

For the game, Marquette shot 60 percent from the field including a blistering 50 percent from three. Reinhardt led the way with 21 and was one of seven Golden Eagles — including all five starters — to score in double figures.

Marquette’s hot shooting marked the first time Creighton allowed more than 100 points since March 2008, a triple overtime win over Bradley back in its Missouri Valley Conference days.

Creighton’s Maurice Watson Jr. is out for the season with an ACL injury. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

With Watson out, senior Isaiah Zierden moved into the starting lineup and a couple different guards initiated the offense. Zierden had a nice showing with 15 points (4-4 3FG), but it was freshman Davion Mintz who made the biggest impression. Mintz averaged 1.8 points and 0.8 assists in just 5.8 minutes per game entering Saturday’s contest. In this one, he had 17 points and eight assists while turning the ball over only twice in 26 minutes. Marcus Foster, the team’s leading scorer, put up a season-high 30 points on 13-of-24 shooting.

Creighton had a slow start shooting the ball, but still managed to put up 94 points. That total should be enough to win, but the defense just could not stop Marquette, a team clawing up the Big East standings.

Will that be a sign of things to come for the Bluejays? It’s hard to say based off just one game, especially against a team like Marquette that can really score the ball. The team’s fight at the end, cutting the lead down from 19 to single digits, should be somewhat encouraging for coach Greg McDermott.

There’s no doubt it’ll take some time to piece things together for McDermott without Watson. The ball was in his hands as much as anybody in the country (he assisted on 44 percent of Creighton’s field goals during his time on the floor). It’ll take time to work out the kinks — on both sides of the ball — and the performance from Mintz is certainly a positive sign. There’s a lot of basketball left, so it’s not time to push the panic button for Creighton fans.