Just when things looked to be turning for the better for Creighton, the team has been dealt a big blow on offense. Junior starting shooting guard Pop Isaacs' season is over, Creighton announced Saturday. Isaacs is going to have a second hip surgery -- he had one in the spring -- which will end his season.
"It was a pretty sobering message that impacted us in practice yesterday," Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said Saturday after Creighton's 83-65 win over UNLV.
Isaacs is eligible for a redshirt season, meaning he'll still have two seasons of eligibility after this one. Isaacs, who began his career at Texas Tech, was averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and just scored season-high 27 points vs. Kansas in Creighton's 76-73 home win on Wednesday night.
Isaacs was playing through discomfort in the preseason, according to a source, and the pain only continued to get worse as November went along. His injury issues are one of many that have afflicted Creighton this season. Without Isaacs, the Bluejays are down a crucial scorer. It could be a huge blow for a Creighton squad that was spotty up until the KU win on Wednesday, in part because of said injuries.
The Bluejays were a projected top-15 team in the preseason but are 7-3 and looking to keep rising after the dominant victory against Kansas, in addition to Saturday's win over UNLV. Creighton got 19 points from senior guard Jamiya Neal, plus 15 from Isaac Traudt and 12 from Jasen Green off the bench.
"It's a credit to my locker room and the leadership in that locker room to stay positive," McDermott said. "It's easy for doubt creep in, but I think Kalk (Ryan Kalkbrenner) and Steven (Ashworth) are finding ways to impact their teammates. ... It's pretty incredible that we were able to bounce back from what happened in Vegas -- sick and hurt and everything that's going on -- and then to get the Pop news, you're really proud. You hope you prepare your team for it, and it's going to be a process this year, there's no question, because our margin for error is really, really slim."
Creighton's next game is a big matchup at Alabama in one week, on Dec. 14.
