Creighton University
Nebraska
Men's Basketball Falls 59-54 at Nebraska
12/5/2010 3:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LINCOLN, Neb. -- After a 3-of-18 first half from three-point range, the Nebraska men's basketball team hit six treys in the first seven minutes of the second half en route to a 59-54 comeback victory over visiting Creighton on Sunday.
Nebraska improved to 6-2, while Creighton is now 4-4. The home team has won each of the last six meetings between the state's only two Division I schools.
Both teams struggled mightily in the first half as the defensive-minded teams established their presence early on. Nebraska started just 1-of-9 from the floor, while Creighton was 0-of-6 to start before a reverse lay-up by Antoine Young at the 14:19 mark. Creighton threw together a 10-0 run, scoring on five straight possessions to go ahead 18-11, including three scores inside by freshman Doug McDermott. Nebraska's scoring drought lasted nearly five minutes before Eshaunte Jones drained a three-pointer to cut the Husker deficit to 20-14.The Jays kept getting defensive stops, while also scoring at a better clip. After a McDermott tip-in made it 24-16, Creighton's Ethan Wragge drained a trey from the top of the key to give the Jays their largest lead of the game at 27-16. The Huskers narrowed the gap to six on five straight points by Brandon Richardson, before Creighton's Kenny Lawson Jr. threw down a dunk for his first points to close the first half scoring.
McDermott led all players with 10 points in the first half, while also tying for team-best honors with four rebounds. NU was paced by eight points from Richardson, while Caleb Walker led NU with seven rebounds in just eight minutes. The teams combined to shoot 5-of-33 from downtown in the first 20 minutes, and Creighton outrebounded the hosts 25-19 on the glass. The Jays dominated the paint to a 20-6 clip, and had a 14-3 advantage in second chance points.
After a 3-of-18 showing from downtown in the first half, Nebraska drained three consecutive three-pointers to open the second half with a 9-3 run and get within 32-30. After a Bluejay miss, Richardson would score in transition to knot the score at 32 with 17:52 to play. A trey by Walker, gave NU its first lead of the second half at 40-37 with 13:28 to go, and the Huskers took a 43-37 lead when Lance Jeter scored from long-range.
Creighton trailed 53-49 at the final media timeout, but came out with a play designed to get Lawson the ball inside. His turnaround bank shot got the Jays within two, and Creighton missed three chances to go ahead from long-range on its next two possessions.
Nebraska used a timeout and got the ball inside to Jorge Brian Diaz, who scored to put the hosts up four with 1:20 left. Creighton again answered, finding Lawson, who converted a three-point play to make it a one-point game. Nebraska missed on the other end, only to have CU be called for a foul on the rebound. Creighton then had to foul NU, as the Jays had just two team fouls to that point. CU would hack NU on five straight inbounds, as the clock trickled down to 26.3 seconds, to finally put the Huskers in the bonus.
After a near turnover when Husker big men Brandon Ubel and Drake Beranek collided, Jeter would collect the loose ball and be fouled with 26.3 left. Jeter sank both ends of the bonus, putting the hosts up 57-54. Creighton then called timeout with 22.0 seconds remaining. Creighton had two chances to tie it. Lawson missed a three-pointer, but tracked down his own rebound near the free-throw line. He would feed Young, who came up short on his three-point try. With all five Bluejay players crashing the glass, Jeter grabbed the rebound and fed NU's Drake Beranek, who laid in an uncontested lay-up with 0.6 seconds left for the final margin.
McDermott finished with 10 points and six rebounds as part of a balanced Bluejay offense that had six men score between seven and 10 points. Young had nine points and six assists, while Kaleb Korver and Wragge each had eight points. Lawson had seven points and led the Jays with eight rebounds. Creighton shot 36.7 percent for the game, including 6-of-33 from long-range (18.2 percent), while also making 4-of-7 at the line. Creighton outrebounded NU 41-37 and owned a 17-5 edge in second-chance points.
Nebraska was paced by Richardson, who scored 10 of his game-high 18 points after intermission. Jeter also filled the stat sheet, as the burly senior point guard had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. Walker led NU with 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. Nebraska shot 37.3 percent for the game and finished 9-of-31 (29.0 percent) from three-point territory. The Huskers were also 6-of-8 from the line.
NOTES: This was the sixth straight season that Creighton has owned a halftime lead on Nebraska ... This was the third time in Creighton's last four trips to Lincoln that it held the Huskers to 22 first half points or fewer ... Creighton freshman Doug McDermott scored in double-figures for the eighth straight game ... Darryl Ashford had a pair of blocked shots for the fourth time in the past five games ... Three of the last four Creighton/Nebraska meetings in Lincoln have seen a team with a shot to tie/win in the final 15 seconds ... Creighton's 33 attempts from three-point range were tied for second-most in school history, one behind the school record ... Creighton will play its next four games at home.
