Usually by the time you see a team for a third game in the conference tourney, there’s no secrets and developing a gameplan is relatively straightforward. Creighton’s quarterfinal matchup with Providence is not the usual conference tourney match.
When these teams first met nine weeks ago on New Years Eve — a 19-point Creighton win — CU got 13 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes from Martin Krampelj. Providence didn’t get much of anything from Kyron Cartwright, who re-injured his ankle midway through the first half and was ineffective when he returned; he scored two points. With Krampelj now out, and Cartwright barely playing in that game, both teams look vastly different today than they did on that Sunday afternoon.