Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight Over Nebraska, 75-65

OMAHA, Neb. -- Martin Krampelj and Ronnie Harrell Jr. had double-doubles and Marcus Foster scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half as the Creighton men's basketball team claimed its seventh straight double-digit win over Nebraska on Saturday, a 75-65 victory before a sold out crowd of 17,901.

The win lifted the Bluejays to 7-2 on the season, while Nebraska fell to 7-4 overall.

Creighton trailed at the half for the first time all season, 33-28. But just as it has the three most recent times in the regular-season it trailed at the half against NU, the Jays would rally to win.

The second half saw Nebraska push the lead to its peak with a three-pointer to open the second half with a 36-28 advantage, but Foster answered on the ensuing position with a three-ball from the corner. After a defensive stop, junior Khyri Thomas followed with a traditional three-point play to bring the Bluejays back within a bucket at 36-34. Nebraska attempted to stem the tide with a dunk by Isaac Copeland, but once more Foster answered with a thunderous dunk of his own. Moments later the Bluejays grabbed the lead as freshman Mitch Ballock drained a three to give Creighton a 39-38 edge. It was CU's first lead since 7-6 in the opening minutes.

Things remained close down the stretch as the Bluejays held a 58-57 lead with just 3:43 left. Ballock answered the Nebraska challenge with a driving layup, then sophomore Martin Krampelj grabbed a critical defensive rebound. The battle for the board resulted in the fifth foul for Husker point guard Glynn Watson Jr. Krampelj calmly sank both from the charity stripe. Down the stretch the Bluejays scored on its final nine possessions, including a critical trifecta from Foster with 45.4 seconds left to push Creighton out to a 69-63 advantage.

CU had five men in double-figures, led by 19 from Foster, 13 by Ballock, 12 from Harrell, 11 from Thomas and 10 by Krampelj. Krampelj and Harrell each added 11 rebounds. CU shot 50 percent for the game (29-58) and 5-of-21 from three-point range while draining 12-of-17 foul shots.

Isaac Copeland had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and James Palmer Jr. added 16 points despite early foul trouble. The Huskers shot 38 percent for the game, including 9-for-26 beyond the arc and 2-of-3 at the charity stripe. NU had 16 assists and just nine turnovers on the day.

Creighton won the rebound battle 43-33 and also bested the Cornhuskers in the paint (38-26), off turnovers (8-2), in second chance points (14-4), in transition (6-2) and off the bench (27-16).

Creighton returns to the hard court on Friday, Dec. 15 as the Bluejays host Maryland Eastern Shore at 7:00 pm in CenturyLink Center Omaha.

NOTES: Creighton improved to 5-0 this season at home and has now won 19 straight non-conference home games ... Greg McDermott improved to 14-0 all-time against Tim Miles, with 11 double-digit wins and eight straight by 10 or more points ... Greg McDermott is now 7-1 as Creighton coach against Nebraska ... Martin Krampelj has had back-to-back double-doubles after having none in the first 43 games of his career ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures in 27 straight games ... Creighton is 13-1 in its last 14 games against the Big Ten ... Khyri Thomas was 0-for-2 from three-point range, snapping a streak of 22 straight games with a three-pointer ... Ty-Shon Alexander had three assists and a steal in his first career start as a Bluejay ... Creighton has won 11 straight regular-season home games over Nebraska ... Creighton took a 26-25 lead in the all-time series with today's win, the first time it's owned the lead in the series since after the 1980 contest (6-5).

VIDEO || Postgame interview with Creighton head coach Greg McDermott & @FS1 following the Bluejays' 75-65 victory over Nebraska #GoJays #LetItFly pic.twitter.com/YtlnuEedwX
— Creighton Basketball (@BluejayMBB) December 9, 2017

Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight Over Nebraska, 75-65

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Team Stats

Marcus Foster

Mitch Ballock

Ronnie Harrell Jr.

Khyri Thomas

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Marcus Foster

Ronnie Harrell Jr.

Martin Krampelj

Khyri Thomas

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Marcus Foster

Ronnie Harrell Jr.

Martin Krampelj

Khyri Thomas