The Bluejays won (again), and it wasn’t really close (again). Creighton’s 82-67 win Sunday against Nebraska continues an impressive, extended stretch against the Huskers. Back in December 1997, Creighton snapped a seven-game losing streak to Nebraska with an 11-point win at the Civic Auditorium. Including that 84-73 victory, the Bluejays have won 13 of 18 games against the Huskers, including three in a row and four of the last five meetings between the two programs.
More often than not, the games haven’t really been all that close. Five of the last six Creighton wins in the series have been by double figures, a stretch that has seen the Jays average a 15.1 margin of victory against Big Red. In the 13 wins over UNL since 1997 Creighton’s average margin of victory is 11.76 points per game. Sure, two of CU’s five losses were by double digits (76-60 in 1998 and 73-61 in 2006), but more times than not when Nebraska won the games came down to a possession or two.
Ethan Wragge scored 16 points and grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds against the Huskers (WBR/Adam Streur) CLICK TO BUY PHOTO
Sunday’s first 20 minutes stirred some frustrations about the previous week’s San Diego State loss. Much like the first 10 or so minutes against the Aztecs, Creighton’s offense was fantastic to start the game against the Huskers. The Jays held a 15-2 lead at the first media timeout, with Doug McDermott having missed his first shot but making his next two — both three-pointers — and hitting a couple of free throws. But unlike their performance in what would be a close loss to SDSU in Anaheim, Creighton kept coming at the Huskers on offense.
Behind 54% shooting from the field and 7 made three-pointers, the Bluejays would cruise to a 26-point halftime lead. That the margin was 32 points with just a hair over 4 minutes to play in the half was both shocking and gratifying; Greg McDermott’s team didn’t seem content to just be ahead of Nebraska, they seemed locked in on leaving absolutely no doubt as to the best team in the state (again).
They lost some of that focus in the second half, it seemed, especially as the Huskers found their way to the rim a bit more often and converted nearly 60% of their shots from the field. But unlike their loss to the Aztecs, Creighton was able to open up a big lead early behind McDermott and Ethan Wragge and then put an opponent away.
It helped that Creighton’s defense was effective (again). For the third straight game, and fifth time all season, the Jays held an opponent under 70 points. In the loss to George Washington and in victories against Long Beach State and Nebraska, the Bluejays held their opponents to a combined 40.2% field goal percentage (66-164) and 28.5% three-point shooting percentage (12-42).
Ethan Wragge and Grant Gibbs contributed to Creighton’s solid defensive effort against the Huskers (WBR/Adam Streur) CLICK TO BUY PHOTO
Through 9 games, the offensive difficulties CU suffered in the loss to the Colonials was an outlier. In every other game, the Bluejays have scored at least 78 points. At 83.2 points per game, the Jays are among the country’s top scoring teams. They don’t need to be exceptional on the defensive end of the court night in and night out, but they need to be able to force bad shots and hit the glass when teams miss.
That formula worked out well against Nebraska, especially in the first half. The Huskers were terrible on offense, to the tune of 30% shooting from the field and just 8% shooting from behind the arc. The Jays won the rebounding margin in the first half, too.
Doug McDermott scored a game-high 33 points against Nebraska (WBR/Adam Streur) CLICK TO BUY PHOTO
It was nice to see McDermott make the most of his last scheduled game against the Huskers. Barring an unforeseen postseason matchup, Creighton’s superstar will leave college having won three straight games against Nebraska. He led all scorers Sunday with 33 points and added 8 rebounds in 37 minutes of play. It was a career-high point total for McDermott against Nebraska, eclipsing the 27-point performance he posted in Lincoln as a junior.
In his first taste of the in-state rivalry, the freshman McDermott made just 5 of 13 shots and missed all of his three-point attempts while his Jays blew an 11-point lead in Lincoln. The Huskers won 59-54. As a sophomore, McDermott posted his third-straight double-double of the season (24 points and 12 rebounds) as he led the Bluejays back from a 5-point deficit in the second half to win 76-66 in Omaha. Then, last season in Lincoln, McDermott dropped 27 points on the Huskers as the Jays led nearly the entire game and posted the program’s largest margin of victory in Lincoln ever.