If Creighton was a sleeper Final Four team, this injury news changes everything

Mo Watson Jr.'s injury is season-ending. The Bluejays' title hopes take a huge hit, because he has no backup

By Matt Norlander

Jan 17, 2017 at 3:41 pm ET • 2 min read

Creighton, the No. 7 team in America and off to a program-record 18-1 start this season, had its worst fears realized on Tuesday afternoon when its National Player of the Year candidate tweeted this:

It's been a fun ride. really devastated but it's about the get back & my chase to my dreams and back on the court starts now! #jays pic.twitter.com/TssBFgyUmT
— Maurice Watson Jr. (@mauricewatsonjr) January 17, 2017

That's Mo Watson Jr., one of the best point guards in the country, explaining that he's never going to play college basketball again. It's a torn left ACL. Any season-ending injury is awful, of course, but to see someone go from mid-major recruit to one of the 10 best players in America -- and then have his college career taken away from him halfway through the best season of his life, it's gutting.

If you missed the play, here's how Watson went down during the first half of Creighton's road win at Xavier on Monday. It was a non-contact injury, normally a telltale sign of a significant rupture in the knee.

This is the play where Mo Watson was injured. pic.twitter.com/GEvoevjjXs
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) January 16, 2017

Three things to know

1. Creighton has no reliable backup for Watson

His 8.5 assists-per-game rate is No. 1 in the country. Watson, who grew into such a composed and creative point guard, has no backup, so to speak. Creighton is oozing with talent (Justin Patton has become a top-10 freshman in America), but it all came from Watson. There is no proven replacement for him in the lineup. Heck, Watson's 801 assists in college is the most of any active player.

So who's going to step in? Tyler Clement, perhaps. The 6-foot-1 junior could in theory be the guy, but he didn't even play in Xavier's game. Senior Isaiah Zierden will get more burn, and maybe freshman/point guard of the future Davion Mintz will be thrown into the fire. It's about to get really interesting for Creighton.

"We are sorry to learn of the severity of Maurice's injury, but are thankful for his contributions since joining the Bluejay program three years ago," CU coach Greg McDermott said. "Our team will regroup, and we have a lot of young men who are capable of stepping up to fill the void in Maurice's absence. Maurice's leadership role on our team will continue to be huge part of our success."

2. This will probably affect Creighton's seeding in the NCAA Tournament

The selection committee has seen a healthy team win 18 of its 19 games this season, challenge Villanova for Big East supremacy, and watched all this happen as Watson became one of the 10 most valuable players in the sport.

Now Creighton, which has at least 13 games remaining before Selection Sunday, will be judged on the team it is without Watson. That's not to say the committee will throw out the 18-1 start -- it won't -- but you are selected and seeded based on the personnel you have available for the tournament. The Bluejays, even though they lost their best player, just became one of the most interesting tournament teams to track from now until mid-March.

3. Here are Creighton's biggest remaining games

The Bluejays were able to win at Xavier after Watson went down in the first half. It was an impressive rally and the committee will note that. Here are the five biggest/toughest spots left on the slate, before we get to the Big East tournament.