Men's Basketball Falls At #24 Nebraska, 94-75

LINCOLN, Neb. – Despite a career-high seven three-pointers and 23 points from Mitch Ballock, the Creighton men's basketball team fell 94-75 to No. 24 Nebraska on Saturday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Bluejays dropped to 6-3, while the Cornhuskers improved to 8-2.

Nebraska's victory marked its first against Creighton since 2010, and snapped the Bluejays' streak of seven consecutive double-digit victories against their in-state rival.

James Palmer Jr. led all scorers with 30 points, as all five of the Huskers' starters finished in double figures.

Palmer helped the host Huskers to a strong start, going a perfect 3-for-3 from long range during the opening three minutes. The senior ended the first half with 12 points despite playing only eight minutes of the opening half because of foul trouble.

A three-pointer by Ty-Shon Alexander tied the game at 9-9 at the 16:57 mark, but Nebraska quickly sped out on a 7-0 run and never trailed the rest of the game.

Following a basket from Bluejay freshman Samson Froling, the host Huskers used a 16-2 run to build a 21-point advantage, 37-16, with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Nebraska led by 21 on five different occasions for its largest lead.

Creighton scored the final eight points of the first half, including a three-pointer by Ballock as the shot clock expired with only eight seconds showing on the clock, but Nebraska led 47-34 at the break.

Ballock finished 4-for-4 from beyond the arc during the first 20 minutes, led all scorers with 14 points, and scored Creighton's final four field goals of the opening half.

The sophomore started the second half the way he ended the first with consecutive three-pointers to bring the deficit back to single digits, 51-42, for the first time since 23-14 with 11:29 to play in the first half.

Nebraska continued to lead and built a 17-point advantage at 77-60 after three free throws from Palmer. A dunk by Martin Krampelj and five-straight points from Davion Mintz cut the deficit to 10 and forced the Huskers to call timeout with 6:03 to play.

Creighton forced the Cornhuskers to use the entirely of the shot clock and force a corner three-pointer, but Nebraska secured an offensive rebound and made a second-chance trey to extend its lead to 14 points, 84-70 before the final media timeout.

Nebraska made 14 three-pointers, the most by a Creighton opponent this season.

Alexander ended with 10 points and Mintz added a season-best 15 to join Ballock in double figures for the Bluejays.

Creighton returns to the action on Friday at home against Green Bay. Tip-off between the Bluejays and Phoenix is scheduled for 8 p.m. inside CHI Health Center Omaha.

NOTES: Creighton made 11 three-pointers, marking the sixth consecutive game the Bluejays have made 10 or more three-pointers for the first time since 2013 ... Saturday marked Creighton's first loss at Pinnacle Bank Arena (2-1) ... Creighton head coach Greg McDermott is now 13-4 all-time vs. Nebraska (7-2 as Bluejays' head coach) and 14-1 against Nebraska's Tim Miles all-time ... Ty-Shon Alexander became just the third Bluejay sophomore in the last 25 years to score in double-figures each of CU's first nine games, joining only Doug McDermott (2011-12) and Rodney Buford (1996-97). McDermott and Buford are Creighton's top two all-time leading scorers ... Creighton became the first Nebraska opponent to make more than seven three-pointers this season .. .Nebraska had not scored more than 76 points against the Bluejays since 1995 ... Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in 825 consecutive games ... Today marked the first time since 1997 that Nebraska led at halftime and held on to beat the Bluejays.

Opening statement
Greg McDermott
"Nebraska played great. We were concerned with their dribble penetration and their ability to get to the free throw line, so we tried to plug up the lane a little bit early. To their credit, they made us pay with the three-point shot. That kind of got the crowd into the game and got us off to a rough start, then we're fighting an uphill battle the rest of the game. Having said that, we cut it to 13 at halftime, we scored on 8-of-12 possessions to start the second half, but they scored on 9-of-12 and our 13-point deficit was still a 13-point deficit six-seven minutes in when we pretty efficient offensively against a good defensive team. We had no answer for them defensively. They won the 50/50 plays today. They played like a veteran team that was desperate for a win, and they were very good today."

On what he said to his team when Creighton went down by 18 points
Greg McDermott
"I said 'there is no 18-point play.' We took a quick three from the top and then we tried to get one inside and we over dribbled, they came in and stripped it. Our message to the guys was when you get into that situation, you don't go faster, you go slower. You don't throw less passes, you throw more, you don't cut less, you cut more. To our credit, we got back in the game against a very good defensive team, but it's too big of a hill to climb in this environment."

On what he saw from Nebraska's defense that got them off track in the first half
Mitch Ballock
"Their defense, everybody in this room knows how good they are on the defensive end. We put some new plays in. We executed the new plays, but at the end of the day we couldn't get going. They set the tone early."

On how he can get his team to battle back faster on the road
Greg McDermott
"Well, you have to make some shots, and you got to make some stops, and you have to get stops first. It's going to be mind blowing, the number of points they scored after a 50/50 scrum situation where the ball is bouncing around and they end up with it. On a lot of those possessions, they hit a three or went to the free throw line. It's tough, it was a great environment today. The crowd was great, like we thought it would be. You can't dig a hole like that in an environment like this and expect to survive."

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Team Stats

Mitch Ballock

Davion Mintz

Ty-Shon Alexander

Damien Jefferson

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Samson Froling

Martin Krampelj

Davion Mintz

Players Mentioned

Ty-Shon Alexander

Mitch Ballock

Samson Froling

Martin Krampelj

Davion Mintz