Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach CBB Game #572 Saturday 8* Creighton Bluejays (-) vs Marquette Golden Eagles @ 2:30 ET - The big news for Creighton was, of course, the tragic loss of star guard Maurice Watson to a season-ending injury in their win over Xavier earlier this week. However, I fully expect the Bluejays to respond in a big way today just like they did in the 2nd half of the game against Musketeers knowing that Watson was not available. So often, in the first game after a team loses a star player, that team becomes a "play on" team. That's because everyone else "ups their game" to try and make up for the absence and I expect that to be the case again here with Creighton and the Watson situation. The Bluejays really showed a lot in the way they "hung tough" against Xavier after Watson got hurt. Keep in mind that game was on the road too. Now Creighton is at home and their hosting a Golden Eagles team that is only 2-5 away from home this season. The Bluejays are still an 18-1 team and I feel this is a very reasonable number to lay with Creighton on their home floor. Marquette has allowed teams to hit 51% against them in road games this season and, keep in mind, the Bluejays are shooting 53% in home games this season! The Creighton defense is also much better at defending the 3-ball than the Golden Eagles are and this one could get ugly in a hurry. The Bluejays, when knocking down shots at home, really get a huge crowd edge going and teams just collapse against a Creighton team just lighting up the scoreboard. That is the type of game I expect here as the Bluejays rally after the Watson injury. Marquette is 3-7 ATS against teams with a winning record this season and the Golden Eagles are 6-14 ATS the past 3 seasons combined when they are off of a game where they allowed 80 points or more. The Bluejays are 11-3 ATS this season in their games against teams with a winning record and they owe the Eagles some payback after a home loss to Marquette last season. 8* CREIGHTON minus the points Saturday afternoon