Huskers Rally Ends Creighton's NIT Run, 71-70
3/16/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. -- Nate Johnson hit a driving lay-up with 12 seconds left to lift Nebraska (17-12) past Creighton (20-9), 71-70, in opening round action of the National Invitation Tournament. The Cornhuskers' win snapped Creighton's five-game winning streak in the series and advance them to a home game in the NIT against either Troy State or Niagara later this week.
Nebraska jumped to a 13-4 lead in the opening minutes before a barrage of three-pointers brought Creighton back. CU hit five straight treys and took the lead 22-21 with 6:26 left in the first half on a trifecta from sophomore reserve Jimmy Motz. Another trey from Motz gave CU a 28-26 lead before the Cornhuskers answered with a 10-1 run to end the first half. NU led 36-29 at the break thanks to a 22-9 rebounding edge at the break.
Creighton started strong early in the second half to take the lead 44-42 on a three-point play by Joe Dabbert with 14:27 left. The teams would trade the lead six times in the second half in a game that featured three ties and 14 lead changes.
Creighton went ahead 51-49 with 11:21 left on a three-pointer by Nate Funk. CU remained in the lead, going up by as much as 65-56 with 6:26 left on a three-pointer by Kellen Miliner. However, CU would miss its final seven shots from the floor the rest of the way.
Corey Simms started NU's comeback with a three-point play with 4:22 to go to draw within six points. A lay-up by John Turek trimmed CU's lead to four with 3:02 to go. CU's lead would go back to five with 2:05 to play when Dabbert drained a pair of free throws to make it 68-63.
Johnson sank two free throws with 1:41 to play to make it a three-point difference. CU turned it over while bringing the ball upcourt, and Turek's offensive putback made it 68-67 with 1:32 to go.
After CU's Johnny Mathies sank two free throws with 1:12 to go up 70-67, another putback dunk by Turek made it 70-69 with a minute to play. CU worked the shot clock but missed a pair of shots by Mathies.
NU regained the ball with 23 seconds left and Johnson drove to the right side of the hoop, hitting a running lay-up over Funk and Dabbert with 12 seconds left.
CU brought the ball upcourt and found Funk, but his jumper from the left elbow was blocked by NU's Jake Muhleisen as time expired, setting off a wild Nebraska celebration.
Nebraska was led in scoring by 20 points and nine rebounds from senior reserve Andrew Drevo. Muhleisen had 17 points while Johnson finished with 11 points. The Huskers shoot 45.8 percent for the game but owned the glass by a 43-25 margin. NU converted its 18 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points and scored an astounding 16 points off of CU's six turnovers.
Creighton was paced by 16 points from Dabbert, 15 from Mathies and 13 from Funk. Mathies tied his career high with four steals and five rebounds. Creighton shot 41.8 percent from the floor, including a sparkling 52.9 percent from three-point range. However, CU made just 65.2 percent of its free throws, including a 3-8 performance in the first half.
NOTES: Creighton finishes the season 20-9, its sixth straight 20-win season ...Creighton fifth-year seniors Michael Lindeman, Brody Deren, Joe Dabbert and Mike Grimes ended their career with the loss ...The quartet of seniors finished their careers 57-5 at home, with four of those losses by two points or less ...Creighton had won five straight in the series vs. Nebraska and hadn't lost at home to NU since 1995 ...Michael Lindeman tied a career-high with five assists and no turnovers ...Creighton hadn't lost a rebounding battle by 18 since Nebraska outrebounded CU 51-33 on Dec. 6, 1995 in Dana Altman's second season ...Creighton has now lost six straight opening round games in NIT action, while Nebraska has won 10 straight opening round NIT games ...Creighton's home attendance for the year finished at 192,258 total fans, an average of 12,016 fans per game. Both are school records.
