Steven Ashworth finding rhythm, shooting stroke for Creighton

No. 10 CU will return from a two-game road trip and host Central Michigan on Saturday (1 p.m., FS2), kicking off the Jays’ final week of their nonconference schedule.

Few have benefitted more from the first month of the season than Ashworth, a sharpshooting guard who entered the NCAA transfer portal after three years at Utah State and made a mighty jump by joining CU in April.

“I just think when guys transfer in — and I don’t care how long you’ve played college basketball — you’re in a new system, new style, new terminology, and there’s a lot of things going through your head that don’t allow your feet to maybe operate the way you want them to,” Jays coach Greg McDermott said. “There’s an adjustment period.”

Ashworth, now a 6-foot-1 senior, willed Utah State to the NCAA Tournament last year. He led the Aggies in scoring with 16.2 points a game while hitting 43.4% of his 3-pointers before Missouri sent them home in the first round.

That same promise showed when Ashworth dropped 17 points, three rebounds and four assists in his Creighton debut, a dismantling of Florida A&M in the Jays’ season opener. In the five games after, including the blowout loss to Colorado State, he averaged 6.2 points while going 39.2% from the field and 31.8% from deep.

The cold spell came to a close in CU’s win at Oklahoma State. That night, Ashworth dropped 17 points and five assists on the Cowboys. He scored 14 in the first half — out of necessity. None of Ryan Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman had got going yet.

“It’s good for his confidence. I’m glad he got to see a couple shots fall,” Alexander said after an eventual 79-65 win. “I’ve been telling him that his game is coming, and I’m glad that it happened at the right time.”

There’s no guessing if Alexander’s message got through.

It did.

“If it was there, I had the confidence to rise up and put it down,” Ashworth said that night.

That carried over into CU’s win at Nebraska, and he wasted little time showing it. The Jays won the opening tip, then Ashworth navigated through the Huskers’ half-court press, floated toward the top of the key, caught a pass in stride and let it fly from 25 feet.

Cash.

He followed his 17-point outing with another 13 and two assists against NU. It’s no secret that line isn’t anything eye-popping. But how Ashworth managed against the Huskers is what mattered.

He commanded the offense in a way McDermott and Co. have waited for, setting off-ball screens to free other guys, dissecting defenses and making the right read, confidently taking shots he’s made countless times.

Perhaps the Jays (7-1) won’t need any heroics out of Ashworth when they host Central Michigan, a team that will enter the CHI Health Center at 3-5 — each loss being by double digits. They now know he’s capable of it, though. They’ve known it, really. He’s starting to show it.

“He’s doing a good job running this team,” McDermott said. “We’re certainly glad we have him.”

Creighton vs. Central Michigan

When: Saturday at 1 p.m.

Where: CHI Health Center

TV | Radio: FS2 | 101.9 FM/1620 AM

Creighton (7-1)

G — Steven Ashworth 6-1 Sr. 9.8

G — Trey Alexander 6-4 Jr. 16.0

G — Baylor Scheierman 6-7 Sr. 19.3

F — Mason Miller 6-9 So. 5.8

C — Ryan Kalkbrenner 7-1 Sr. 15.1

Central Michigan (3-5)

G — Anthony Prichard 6-2 Jr. 13.5

G — Cayden Vasko 6-6 Fr. 5.4

G — Brian Taylor 6-6 Gr. 11.4

G — Aidan Rubio 6-6 So. 6.2

F — Markus Harding 6-10 Jr. 11.7