1977–78 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team

1977–78 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball
1977–78 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball
MVC Regular season and tournament champion
NCAA tournament
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	19–9 (12–4 MVC)
Head coach	Tom Apke (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Tom Brosnihan; Mike Caruso;
Home arena	Omaha Civic Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Creighton †	12	–	4	.750	19	–	9	.679
Southern Illinois	11	–	5	.688	17	–	10	.630
Indiana State	11	–	5	.688	23	–	9	.719
New Mexico State	9	–	7	.563	15	–	14	.517
Bradley	8	–	8	.500	14	–	14	.500
Wichita State	8	–	8	.500	13	–	14	.481
Tulsa	7	–	9	.438	9	–	18	.333
West Texas State	4	–	12	.250	8	–	19	.296
Drake	2	–	14	.125	6	–	22	.214

† 1978 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977–78 Creighton Bluejays men's basketball team represented Creighton University during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bluejays, led by head coach Tom Apke, played their home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. The Jays finished with a 19–9 record (12–4 MVC), and won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament^[1] to earn an automatic bid to the 1978 NCAA tournament. As No. 3 qualifying seed in the Midwest region, the Jays fell to No. 1 at-large seed DePaul in the opening round.^[2]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Randy Eccker	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	Sr	Bear Creek	Denver, Colorado
G	25	John C. Johnson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	Jr	Omaha Central	Omaha, Nebraska
G	30	Kevin McKenna	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Palatine	Palatine, Illinois
G	31	Paul Dinkins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Benton Consolidated	Benton, Illinois
F	32	Dennis Rasmussen	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Bear Creek	Denver, Colorado
G	34	Paul Trieschman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Grand Island Senior	Grand Island, Nebraska
G	40	Kevin Kuehl	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Creighton Prep	Omaha, Nebraska
C	42	Jim Honz	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Bishop Ryan	Omaha, Nebraska
F/C	43	David Wesely	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	Jr	Creighton Prep	Omaha, Nebraska
F	44	Rick Apke	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Elder	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	51	Tim McConnell	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	North Eugene	Eugene, Oregon
C	52	Bill Butrym	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Marquette University	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
F	53	Dan Clausen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Omaha Benson Magnet	Omaha, Nebraska

Head coach

Tom Apke (Creighton)

Assistant coach(es)

Tom Brosnihan
Mike Caruso

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1977*		Carroll (MT)	W 95–66	1–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Nov 29, 1977*		Nebraska–Omaha	W 70–58	2–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 9, 1977*		at Nebraska	L 58–65	3–1	Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 17, 1977*		at Montana	W 71–67	4–1	Adams Field House Missoula, Montana
Dec 20, 1977*		at Southwestern Louisiana	L 87–94	4–2	Blackham Coliseum Lafayette, Louisiana
Dec 27, 1977		at Wichita State	W 71–70	5–2 (1–0)	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Jan 7, 1978		Tulsa	W 78–58	6–2 (2–0)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 12, 1978		at New Mexico State	L 56–78	6–3 (2–1)	Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico
Jan 14, 1978*		at West Texas A&M	W 64–60 ^OT	7–3	First United Bank Center Canyon, Texas
Jan 17, 1978*		Cleveland State	W 94–63	8–3	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 19, 1978		Drake	W 87–77	9–3 (3–1)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 21, 1978		Southern Illinois	L 69–76	9–4 (3–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 26, 1978		at Bradley	L 99–103	9–5 (3–3)	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Jan 28, 1978		at No. 13 Indiana State	W 72–64	10–5 (4–3)	Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana
Jan 30, 1978		New Mexico State	W 84–70	11–5 (5–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 1, 1978*		No. 13 DePaul	L 82–85 ^3OT	11–6 (5–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 4, 1978		Bradley	W 86–74	12–6 (6–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 7, 1978*		at No. 3 Marquette	L 57–82	12–7	MECCA Arena (10,938) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 9, 1978		Wichita State	W 80–76	13–7 (7–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 11, 1978		at Drake	W 71–63	14–7 (8–3)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 13, 1978*		West Texas A&M	W 72–52	15–7	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 16, 1978		Indiana State	W 89–57	16–7 (9–3)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 18, 1978*		at Air Force	W 73–64	17–7	Clune Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado
Feb 20, 1978		at Tulsa	L 77–85	17–8 (9–4)	Cox Business Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 25, 1978		at Southern Illinois	W 62–56	18–8 (12–4)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Missouri Valley Conference tournament
Mar 5, 1978*	(1)	(3) Indiana State Championship game	W 54–52	19–8	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1978*	(MW 3Q)	vs. (MW 1L) No. 4 DePaul First round	L 78–80	19–9	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

^[4]^[5]

References

^ "Creighton 68, Southwest Missouri State 52". UPI Archives. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
^ "Bluejays Flatten Feeble Aggies as N.M. Makes Another 1st-Round Exit". Deseret News. March 15, 1991. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ "1977-78 Men's Basketball Roster". Creighton University Athletics. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ "2019-20 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide". Creighton Bluejays. September 29, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ "1977-78 Men's Basketball Schedule". gocreighton.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.

[mvc-tourney-1] "Creighton 68, Southwest Missouri State 52". UPI Archives. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

[ncaa-nmsu-2] "Bluejays Flatten Feeble Aggies as N.M. Makes Another 1st-Round Exit". Deseret News. March 15, 1991. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

[3] "1977-78 Men's Basketball Roster". Creighton University Athletics. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

[4] "2019-20 Creighton Men's Basketball Media Guide". Creighton Bluejays. September 29, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

[5] "1977-78 Men's Basketball Schedule". gocreighton.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.

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