Shereef Mitchell returned to the court for the Jays on Tuesday night (Williams / WBR)
Poise is a powerful intangible. When exhibited it allows a team to control any situation it finds itself in. Three games into their season, Greg McDermott’s “too young” and “too inexperienced” Creighton basketball team displayed it time and time again throughout a knock down, drag out 77-69 win over Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday night.
Ryan Nembhard, the Jays true freshman point guard, put up a game-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting (4-of-5 from 3-point range) along with five assists, five rebounds, and a pair of steals in the first road game of his college career.
Ryan Hawkins, the transfer from Division II juggernaut Northwest Missouri State, didn’t turn the ball over one time in 36 minutes. He chipped in 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and knocked two of his three 3-pointers in the last four minutes of the game to put the contest on ice and send many of the 16,000 fans in attendance to the parking lot a little early.
Duke transfer Alex O’Connell, a reserve wing for the majority of his career prior to this season, and true freshman guard Trey Alexander combined for 18 points and 17 rebounds while holding the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Bryce McGowens to 21 points below his scoring average. Seven-foot sophomore center Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds, blocked three shots, and altered countless more when the Huskers drove the ball inside in his first career road start.
This was a knock the baby birds out of the nest moment, and as it turned out, these Bluejays were more than ready to fly.
“It goes without saying I’m just incredibly proud of this team,” Greg McDermott said after improving to 10-2 against Nebraska as the head coach at Creighton.
The Huskers looked ready to put it on Creighton at the very start. They locked up the Jays defensively before forcing a turnover on an awkward-angled inbounds pass 25 seconds into the shot clock. On the other end, junior forward Lat Mayen got loose right in front of CU’s bench and buried a wide open corner three. Mayen made it 5-1, Nebraska, on the ensuing offensive possession when Jays freshman forward Arthur Kaluma fouled him in the act of shooting another three just off the top of the key.
The place was geared up to explode in the hopes that hot start continued for the home team.
It didn’t.
Eight points by O’Connell, including two 3-pointers in a 67-second span, fueled a 13-0 run by the Bluejays that gave them a 14-5 lead and forced a timeout by Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg with not even five minutes off the game clock.
“I think I told you guys once I see that first one go in the nerves kind of just fade away,” O’Connell said. “From there it’s just click, click and then it’s just playing basketball. The first few shots for me went down so it was a good start. It was fun. The crowd was great and like I said, I love having the crowd against us … we showed some toughness.”
Fred Hoiberg still trying to figure out that Creighton recipe for a win. (Williams / WBR)
That toughness helped them produce 16 defensive stops in a span of 18 possessions and allowed them to extend the lead to 29-10 on a nasty turnaround, step back jumper by junior guard, and Omaha native, Shereef Mitchell with 10:27 left before halftime.
For the Jays, and many of the fans watching in the arena and on television, it was starting to look like one of those trademark death runs that put the last three meetings between the two teams out of reach. But the Huskers found some life. Bryce McGowens got free on a couple back cuts to the rim during a stretch that saw him score all six of his points on the night in a span of 82 seconds. That cut Creighton’s lead to 12.
Then Nebraska caught fire. C.J. Wilcher, Kobe Webster, Wilhelm Breidenbach, Kobe Webster again, and Kobe Webster AGAIN. Five 3-pointers in a span of only seven possessions and suddenly that 19-point cushion was down to one at 37-36 with just over a minute remaining in the opening half. Even in that moment, with arena at a fever pitch and the Huskers on a 21-4 run over a stretch of nearly seven full minutes of game time, the Bluejays refused to let the present circumstances knock them off kilter.
“I definitely felt like they hit some shots that were like being at home thing,” Alexander said. “When you get the crowd into it you start hitting shots that aren’t the best shots to take. Mac came to us and said, ‘let’s just calm down. These guys are going to make shots because they’re at home, but if we keep getting them to shoot those type of shots then we will definitely win this game.’ I felt like we kept getting them to take those shots, we locked in on personnel, and everyone played their role.”
The second half was a slugfest. Creighton would extend the lead, Nebraska would claw back, Creighton would answer. When the Huskers cut it to one by the under-16 timeout, Mitchell hit a runner and Alexander nailed a corner three in transition to push it back to six. Nebraska scored again, then Nembhard and Hawkins banged home a couple threes to extend it eight.
After a live-ball turnover led to a layup in transition for the Huskers that cut the deficit to 58-55 with 8:37 left, O’Connell and Kaluma both drove into the lane, rose up, and got tough buckets in traffic on consecutive possessions. Nebraska pulled within five and nearly had the ball back after Nembhard air-balled a corner three — his only misfire from beyond the arc all night — but Ryan Kalkbrenner fought through a block out, secured the rebound, and laid it in as he was fouled going up. He hit the free throw and the lead was back to eight.
Nebraska scored again and Nembhard answered with a three. Nebraska scored again and again to pull within six with 3:40 to play, then Hawkins went bang, bang from beyond the arc to make it 74-62 with 1:25 on the clock and it was a wrap on Creighton’s 10th win in the last 11 meetings against their in-state rivals, and more importantly, a passing grade on how to respond to adversity without the safety net of the home crowd.
“[Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg] made a good lineup change putting all those shooters out there and they made some shots, some of them were tough shots and that’s great for us,” McDermott said. “Would I have rather just blown it away and won big? It would have been easier for my heart probably, but in terms of growth of our team to be able to withstand — there is no better crowd in college basketball when they get into it — and be able to kind of gather ourselves on both ends of the floor and do what we did, it’s a good win for us.”
Poise in the noise. A group can only find out if they’ve got it by being in that situation. If they don’t, a 5-1 start by the home team in front of 16,000 rival fans can get sideways on them before they even have a chance to catch a breath. This Creighton team had it on Tuesday night, and it bodes well for their future.
“We’re pretty young and we’re learning every single day,” Nembhard said. “I still need to learn a couple things — I’m turning the ball over way to much. Five turnovers today, that’s not great. But we’re learning every single day. We’re going to keep listening to Coach and keep buying into what he says. We’ll have some bumps in the road, but I think we’re strong enough to push through those times.”