[dropcap]Creighton[/dropcap] comes into Wednesday night’s intra-state battle with Nebraska riding a two-game losing streak, and has a 5-3 overall record. Nebraska enters at 6-3, with an OT loss to Miami and an unimpressive win over Abilene Christian in their last two games. Despite similar records, the feeling around the two programs couldn’t be more different because of how they’ve arrived at those marks.
The Bluejays dropped a game to Arizona State last week where they played a terrific first half both offensively and defensively, but were outplayed on both ends in the second half and missed three chances to win it in the final minute including two missed free throws that would have tied it in the waning seconds. Then they dropped a game at Loyola on Saturday where they came out with a lack of urgency, were on the verge of being blown out, came back to make a game of it, and once again missed multiple chances to win it in the final minute including more missed free throws.
To make matters worse, their leading scorer, Cole Huff, was injured in the loss at Loyola and his status for tonight’s game won’t be known until game time.
Needless to say, there would be a high level of angst among Bluejay fans regardless of who the opponent was tonight. The fact that it’s Nebraska, with all that entails, has the Angst Alarm at “Code Red” levels — pun intended. A third straight loss, especially coming to the Cornhuskers, would not just drop the Bluejays to a 5-4 mark but change the outlook on the season pretty significantly.
Meanwhile, Nebraska enters the game at 6-3, but their three losses are to ranked teams Villanova, Cincinnati, and Miami. They were competitive in two of the three, and had a big early lead at ‘Nova before the Wildcats steamrolled them. That game in Philadelphia is the only other true road game on the Huskers’ non-conference schedule besides tonight’s game; they’ve now lost 11 straight true road games dating back to early last season.
Expectations for the Huskers were tempered somewhat by last season’s collapse and the influx of new, mostly unproven talent on this year’s roster, and nothing they’ve done so far has changed that. This remains a team with some talented offensive players, but no real post presence, just like last year. They can be dangerous when they’re shooting well, but they have no consistent answer for opposing bigs that can establish position on the block because they’ve been hesitant to double-team the post for fear of leaving the perimeter exposed.
6’10” sophomore Jake Hammond is the tallest player on the roster, and he’s had stretches of solid play inside, though his overall numbers don’t jump out at you — he averages 4.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.2 minutes of action. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, and Hammond and a cavalcade of freshmen bigs looked ridiculous in falling for one ball fake after another in the win over Abilene Christian over the weekend. His struggles have meant 6’7″ freshman Ed Morrow has played a lot at the “5”, where he’s expected to start tonight. Morrow is a crafty player who crashes the boards and is skilled offensively, but playing out of position makes him less effective than he could be and he’s had a hard time guarding taller players without fouling.
Still, that’s a matchup to keep an eye on, as the Jays have struggled to adapt to teams that play small on them — look no further than the Loyola game for an example of the havoc that created on their gameplan on both ends of the floor, though that’s hardly the only example this year.
Given their lack of size, the Huskers remain a team that makes it’s hay from outside and off the dribble. Junior guard Andrew White III, who sat out last year after transferring from Kansas, leads the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game, and is without a doubt the best (at least so far) of the whopping 10 newcomers to this year’s squad. He scored 30 points with seven rebounds and four steals in the win over Abilene Christian, and has consistently been solid for them, scoring in double figures in seven of nine games. He had 18 points and six rebounds in the loss to Villanova, 18 points in a win over Mississippi Valley State, and 20 points in the win over Delaware State.
The 6’7″ White can be a tough player to defend, as he has the ability not only to put the ball on the floor but also to shoot from outside, and half of his 46 made field goals this year have come from three-point range. While losing Cole Huff’s offense, if he can’t play tonight, is obviously an obstacle, it’s the matchup with White where it may also hurt the Jays. Toby Hegner seems likely to get the start if Huff can’t go, and draw the assignment of guarding White at least initially. That’s a tough defensive assignment for Hegner, as he struggles to fight through ball screens aimed at getting a shooter an open look, and isn’t quick enough to stop dribble penetration. If Huff is unable to play, and Hegner gets beat defensively, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ronnie Harrell get major minutes purely because his foot speed is better suited for staying in front of a player like White, and his long wingspan gives him more margin for error on jump shots.
6’7″ senior Shavon Shields averages 15.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and is their second-leading scorer. Unlike White, Shields’ offense comes almost entirely from getting to the rim, where he’s deadly both when he shoots (52-106, 49%) and when he’s fouled (32-45, 71%). He had 28 points and five rebounds in the loss to Miami, but has been plagued by foul trouble in big games this year, cutting the minutes he played against Miami, Tennessee, and Cincinnati. He’s the toughest matchup defensively for the Jays, because it will likely fall to Khryi Thomas to keep him from getting off to a hot start. This is another spot where Harrell could see time.
Junior Tai Webster is enjoying the best stretch of play in his career, averaging 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 50% over his last six games, including a career night against Tennessee where he scored 21 points with eight rebounds. He still turns it over far too much — he has a negative assist (18) to turnover (19) ratio, which is killer for a guard — and it’s probably only a matter of time before freshman Glynn Watson takes his starting spot.
Watson is already playing twice as many minutes as Webster despite coming off the bench, and though his numbers aren’t extraordinary — 8.1 points, 2.8 assists, 2.2 rebounds a game — he’s been clutch late in games, exemplified by hitting a three-pointer against Miami to force overtime. He’s also surehanded, with 25 assists and just eight turnovers for the year.
It’s a young, talented roster for Tim Miles, but outside of one winning streak late in the season two years ago, he’s not proven he can turn that talent into victories in Lincoln. He’s also never beaten Greg McDermott, either at Creighton or anywhere else. They certainly have the athleticism, the shooters, and the slashers to — on paper — be the first Nebraska team to win in the regular season in Omaha since 1995. That’s been true many other times, of course, including some games where Creighton was in far direr straits than they are tonight, and it’s not a stretch to say the Jays are in their heads a bit. Getting up 38-8 two years ago and storming back to win by double-digits in Lincoln last year when almost no one thought they’d win have a way of doing that.
Vegas has the Jays as five point favorites, and that sounds about right. I think the Jays will hit enough shots early to bring the demons of past blowouts in Omaha back up to the surface, and then hold on for a tough win.
Quick Notes on the Huskers:
- Benny Parker has made seven 3-pointers so far in 2015-16 after hitting a total of 14 3-pointers during his first three seasons at Nebraska. Parker is also shooting 41 percent from 3-point range this season.
- Nebraska has scored 90 points twice already this season, the first two times in Miles’ four seasons that they’ve scored 90 or more in a game. According to KenPom, NU’s adjusted offense efficiency has climbed from 285th last year (96.3 ppg per 100 possessions) to 152nd (102.7 ppg per 100 possessions) this season. The biggest change has come from the 3-point line, as the Huskers were 340th in that category last season (.284) and are 81st (.375) this year.
- With only five returning players who saw time for the Huskers last year, Nebraska is one of the youngest teams in the country. Nebraska’s 10 newcomers ties for third most nationally. The Huskers also have seven freshmen, which ties for fourth nationally. Notably, of the nine programs with seven or more freshmen in 2015-16, three (Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin) are in the Big Ten.
Bluejay Bytes:
- Khyri Thomas scored 22 points at Loyola, making 9-of-10 shots from the field, and 4-for-4 from three-point range. Thomas’ 22 points were the most by a Bluejay freshman in a game since Doug McDermott had 31 vs. Davidson on March 21, 2011, and the most points by a Creighton freshman in a true road game since Rodney Buford also scored 22 points at Wichita State on February 3, 1996.
- Creighton has led at halftime in 13 of the past 16 regular-season meetings (including nine of the last 10 meetings), with seven double-digit leads at intermission in that span. The three times that Creighton trailed it half, it came back to win the game anyway. The last time these teams met in Omaha, the Bluejays raced to a 38-8 lead in the opening minutes before taking a 51-25 lead into intermission, never trailing in an 82-67 win. It was the fourth time in six regular-season meetings at CenturyLink Center Omaha that CU led by double-figures at the break.
- Creighton is 8-1 in its last nine games against teams from the Big Ten, including a 1-1 mark this season. Creighton has outscored foes by an average of 9.7 points in those nine games, which include seven double-figure victories.
- Creighton has finished with more wins than Nebraska in each of the last 17 seasons, a streak that started with the 1998-99 campaign. Since the start of the 1998-99 season (including this winter), Creighton is 399-176, while Nebraska is 274-264.
The Series:
Creighton has won 13 of the past 16 regular-season match-ups, but Nebraska owns a 25-23 all-time lead in the series. The Jays have won the last nine regular-season meetings in Omaha, winning by an average of 12.2 points in those matchups; NU’s last regular-season win in Omaha over the Bluejays came in 1995.
It’s a series that began in 1923, but was discontinued for 45 years starting in 1932. The story about why it was stopped, and why it wasn’t played for nearly five decades, is often speculated on but rarely explained so I headed down to the Omaha World-Herald archives to research it.
It turns out the series went on hiatus in 1932 after a wild game in Lincoln in which the crowd rushed onto the floor and prevented the end of the game. From a report in the World-Herald on March 8, 1932:
Creighton won a basket ball game from the University of Nebraska at the Coliseum Monday night but they’ll have to bring in Roberts’ rules of order to determine the score. The final count was 29 to 26 or 28 to 26, depending on how you read the basket ball rules.
The mixup occurred as the game ended, the crowd surging on the court so that it was impossible to clear the floor to permit Schmidt to attempt to convert Koster’s foul.
On March 9th, 1932, an article explained Creighton’s reluctance to continue the series.
Creighton, with nothing to gain and everything to lose, gained nothing, and lost nothing. Nebraska lost nothing because they had already lost everything. Even the Superior (Wis.) Teachers’ college team had outscored the Huskers, so the only surprise would have come had the Bluejays failed to do so.
Initially it was Creighton who suspended the series, according to reports at the time in the World-Herald — partially because they felt they could find better opponents elsewhere, partially because of concerns about UNL’s failure to control their crowds. When Red McManus tried to resume the series in the 1950s, UNL claimed to still be insulted at Creighton’s refusal to play after 1932, and returned the favor in saying no thanks.
From a December 9, 1977 article:
“There was resistance in Lincoln, partly because of some ill will when the seven-game series was halted in 1932,” Tom Apke said.
The spacious year-old Sports Center was preferable to the old N.U. Coliseum and its 8,500 seats because, “It’s more conducive to good crowd behavior,” Devaney said. “But I’m not worried about it at all. This could develop into a fine, fine series. It could become home-and-home every year.”
“The No. 1 reason we can play now is 15,000 seats,” Husker Coach Joe Cipriano said. “We can make some money. I’ve heard that there were some problems between the schools before, but we want to look at it from the positive standpoint.”
Later in that article, there’s this fun little anecdote:
Devaney had worked hard to develop Omaha support in his term as Husker football coach. Many major football contributors in Omaha also supported Creighton in basketball. A Nebraska-Creighton basketball rivalry might siphon off some football backing.
“We finally got Omaha and Lincoln united, all pulling together for the football program. We hated to have a breech open up,” Devaney said.
Apke said, “Nebraska was concerned that playing us would force some people in Omaha to get off the fence, but I think the good points far outweigh the bad in playing this game.”
So all the way back in the mid-70s, Nebraska was worried about the existence of people who root for them in football and for the Jays in basketball — and according to Bob Devaney, at least part of the reason they did not play the Jays was because they were fearful a rivalry in basketball would cause people to pick a side that might not be theirs. Interesting stuff.
As for the series totals, the bottom line is this: both sides are at least somewhat to blame for the 45-year hiatus. Creighton would probably have a big lead in the series instead of trailing 25-23 due to the success they had in the 1950s and 1960s relative to what Nebraska was doing, but it’s impossible to say for sure. It’s a fair assumption to say they’d lead, though, even if only by a game or two.
The Last Time They Played:
Creighton overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half and seized control midway through the second on their way to a 65-55 win over Nebraska last December at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.
Their strong play of their seniors led the way, led by point guard Austin Chatman who finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in 36 minutes of action. As a group, Creighton’s five seniors scored 46 of the team’s 65 points, grabbed 21 of the 36 rebounds, and dished out 14 of the 15 Bluejay assists in the win.
Gratuitous Linkage:
The always-excellent Jacob Padilla has a great game preview in Hail Varsity, including a couple of great quotes from the Huskers’ Benny Parker.
“Everybody is just stressing the fact that we just have to get this win, especially because it’s my senior year and I’m 0-3 so far, so everybody’s like you have to end on a good note,” (Benny) Parker said.
“It was terrible,” Parker said about the game film from last year’s loss to Creighton. “We just looked slow on everything, we didn’t cut hard at all, we just didn’t play like we cared at all in that game … I knew guys were hyped up for the game, but I think we kind of figured that we were supposed to win that game since Doug [McDermott] wasn’t there anymore and I feel like that played into how we played that day.”
What the Other Side is Saying:
“I think Nebraska has the athleticism, shooters and style of play that can defeat Creighton. Of course, I thought that last season. The problem for Nebraska now is all between the ears. Creighton has become a mental hurdle for this team. Do the plethora of newcomers who don’t know any better help change that? Or do they melt, too, when Creighton hits its first six shots of the game, which always seems to be the case? That’s where this game hinges for me.”
-Brian Rosenthal, “From the Other Side”
This Date in Creighton Hoops History:
On December 9, 1978, Creighton beat Nebraska 78-61 in the first game between the schools in Omaha since 1932. The Jays had lost the first meeting in 45 years the season prior, 65-58 (coincidentally also on December 9) in Lincoln.
The ’78 game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 9,127 at the Civic, and was one of the wildest Creighton-Nebraska matchups in the history of the series. The Jays had led most of the game, and were up 58-52 with 4:23 to play when all hell broke loose. Nebraska’s Jack Moore came up with a steal and drove down court for a layup, which missed. Teammate Ray Collins rebounded it, but his putback also missed. A scrum for the ball ensued, and Creighton wound up with the ball.
Husker coach Joe Cipriano quite literally lost his mind, running out onto the court to protest the lack of a foul call. He protested so vehemently and for such a long period of time that he was assessed three technical fouls, one after another, and immediately ejected from the game.
Creighton senior David Wesely went to the line to shoot the six — yes, SIX — free throws. The first four went in without even touching the rim, while the final two rolled around the rim before going in. “It was strange,” Wesely told the media afterward. “The first four were all right. But the last two…there was a little pressure. I fell backward on the sixth. That last one faded. It had a little bounce.”
He was just getting warmed up. A minute later, another technical foul was assessed to the Huskers, this time on Brian Banks. The Nebraska big man had fallen dramatically on the floor after fouling Creighton’s John C. Johnson, and was whistled for a “T” for it. Fellow Cornhusker Carl McPipe, their leading scorer who was having a great game with 21 points (14 in the second half alone) and nine rebounds, had seen enough at that point. And so their star center let the referee know it. According to the next morning’s World-Herald, he asked the ref, “You going to let their whole team shoot free throws?”
He was T’d up and ejected, and Wesely went back to the line to shoot four more free throws. He made three of four this time, and thanks to the Husker temper tantrums, it was now 69-56. Wesely had made seven of eight technical free throws in the span of 70 seconds, and for the game went 16-18 from the free throw line in scoring 26 points with 11 rebounds.
Afterward, Johnson told the media “the technicals did take some away from the game, but I’m not disappointed. Not at all. If they want to play like that and have us win, that’s all right with me.”
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day:
The Bottom Line:
There’s a lot of pessimism about this game from Creighton’s fans, and I understand it. The last two losses have been demoralizing, and a loss to Nebraska would be painful salt in those wounds. If this game was in Lincoln, I’d be very worried. It’s in Omaha, so I’m not.
Bluejays 77, Huskers 70
