Even though the game is only an exhibition, Dana Altman isn’t quite sure his Creighton basketball team is ready to play against a squad in different-colored uniforms.

Justin Carter is.

“I know Coach doesn’t think we’re ready,’’ the senior forward said, “but we’ve been beating up on each other for so long, I think we’re ready to beat up on somebody else.’’

The Bluejays will get that chance Wednesday night at 7:05 when they face Missouri Western at Qwest Center Omaha. The Division II school from St. Joseph is the first of two exhibition opponents Creighton will face before its Nov. 14 season opener at Dayton.

Officially, Creighton has been practicing since Oct. 16. Unofficially, Carter and his teammates have been facing off against each other in pickup games since shortly after last season ended in March. They’ve put in countless hours in the weight room. Tonight’s game will be their first chance to see how far they’ve come in the offseason.

It probably won’t be far enough to satisfy the perfectionist streak in Altman. He looks at this group and sees a team that still needs to refine its play in just about every aspect before taking on a Dayton team ranked in the Top 25 in just about every preseason poll.

Altman’s goal for tonight and Sunday’s second exhibition against the University of Nebraska at Omaha?

“I just want us to play hard,’’ he said. “I know it’s not going to be very smooth. We’re trying to play a lot of guys and trying to work five new guys into things. We’ve just been practicing for more than two weeks, and I just want to make sure we play hard.’’

One benefits in facing some different faces, Altman said, is that it will allow the Bluejays to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses.

“We have so many things to work on,’’ he said. “It’s going to do us well to play someone else and get some things on film and just work with five instead of working with everybody. We’re just not very well-organized in any facet of the game.’’

One point of emphasis during practice has been the need for the Bluejays to pick up the pace on offense. They led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring last season, averaging 73.3 points, and Altman would like to see that production grow this season with a pedal-to-the-metal offensive approach.

Carter does, too.

“I want to see a team that’s running with a purpose and finishing things on the offensive end,’’ he said. “The things I want us to get out of these exhibitions is to get a feel for how we want to play the game and the tempo we want to play at.

“We need to start developing a sense of urgency.’’

Altman said he’s sure that Carter and Kenny Lawson will start tonight. The other spots are up in the air.

Wednesday night’s game will mark the Creighton debut for junior college transfers Wayne Runnels and Darryl Ashford, redshirt freshman Josh Jones and true freshmen Ethan Wragge and Andrew Bock.

“I’m excited,’’ Wragge said. “We’ve been working for this for a long time, and now we’ll have a chance to see that hard work pay off.’’

Altman isn’t one to make any snap judgments about newcomers based on how they perform the first couple of times out.

“I’m not going to panic if they don’t play well,’’ he said. “We’ve had some pretty good players, Booker Woodfox and Kyle Korver included, that didn’t get off to good starts.

“They (newcomers) will get a lot more impatient than the coaching staff will. What we’re really hoping for is that the vets show that they’ve been on the floor before. I think it’s a lot more important for them to come out and do some things.’’

• CU NOTES: Missouri Western is coming off a 14-16 season and returns three starters and five other lettermen. ... One of Missouri Western’s newcomers is 6-foot-4 forward Denzel Cook of Omaha Central. He is the son of Arthur Cook, the college’s all-time leading scorer. ... All upper bowl seats that have not been sold as season tickets will be tagged tonight and available for purchase as season tickets.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com