Wragge Makes 'Cats Groggy, Creighton Hits Big East-Record 21 3-Pointers

PHILADELPHIA, PA — They’re known as the Creighton Blue Jays, but you might as well call them the Blue Treys. While snow is hitting Philadelphia today, it was raining threes on Monday night. A heavyweight battle between Big East top squads Villanova, ranked No. 4 in the nation, and Creighton turned into a lopsided, record-setting demolition.

While all eyes were on Creighton superstar Doug McDermott, it was one of his teammates that stole the show. Ethan Wragge had a game for the ages. The forward tied a school record knocking downnine 3-pointers and he led all scorers with 27 points.Wragge’s teammates were hot as well. In all, the Blue Jays drained 21 shots from downtown, setting a Big East record for most team threes in a game, en route to a 96-68 victory.

Wragge hit his first seven triples and after the game he credited his teammates for finding him. “Once I get one, they know I’m hunting for two and three,” Wragge said. “It’s a hard feeling to describe once you get one to go in. You just kind of let it fly and don’t think about it.”

Let it fly he did. Villanova was bloodied before they knew what hit them. Creighton meantime hit their first seven field goals, all threes, and the rout was on. The 28-point drubbing is the worst loss for the Wildcats in the Jay Wright era.

Doug McDermott was no slouch in this one either. The nation’s second leading scorer connected on five threes of his own to help break a team record for threes set in 2005.

The story, though, was Wragge. His performance out of the gate was unprecedented if you ask his coach. “That was one of the more incredible things I’ve ever been a part of,” said Creightonhead coach Greg McDermott. Yet, he wasn’t exactly surprised by Wragge’s marksmanship. “I’ve seen him shoot better in practice,” McDermott said. “That’s just another day at the office for Ethan.”

After canning a few in a row, Wragge could feel he was in a groove. “By three or four, I kind of knew where I was at,” Wragge said.

Not only did Wragge know where he was at, so did Villanova and a stunned Wells Fargo Center crowd.

In the next two weeks we’ll be hearing a lot about “Omaha” and how it relates to Peyton Manning, but on Martin Luther King Day, we were shown in no uncertain terms that there’s a college basketball team from Omaha that means business. Doug McDermott is not alone in the Blue Jays attack. With guys like Wragge that can go off at any time, Creighton could be a force to be reckoned with as we head toward March.

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