Key Stats: Creighton has 21 assists on 27 made baskets. Ethan Wragge misses his first career double-double by one rebound, with 16 points and 9 boards. Most important stat, though, is buried at the bottom of the box score: “Score tied zero times, Lead changed zero times.”
Favorite Moment: Early in the second half, Grant Gibbs floated a lob to Doug McDermott, who slammed home the alley-oop. Doug’s done just about everything an individual player can possibly do, but he’d never done that.
500-ish Word Recap: There’s been a handful of times over the two-plus decades I’ve followed Creighton hoops closely that I’ve felt something close to pity for an opponent, but it’s almost always for a team from the SWAC — teams like Houston Baptist or Arkansas Pine-Bluff that are so clearly inferior, so obviously devoid of top-tier talent, that you wince at their ineptitude and hope for their sake that they can manage to escape with their dignity.
Nebraska is better than those teams (I think), but you’d never know it by the way they played on Sunday night. At the 18:36 mark of the first half, Ethan Wragge nailed a three to put the Jays up 3-0, and that would be the closest the Huskers would be the rest of the night. In fact, over the first eight minutes of action, spanning two media timeouts and two team timeouts, the Huskers managed just one field goal, throwing up brick after brick after brick. Meanwhile, Creighton was as efficient as ever, and at the end of those first eight minutes, they had a 22-3 lead thanks to a trio of three pointers from Doug McDermott and a dunk from Grant Gibbs, who took advantage of the defensive focus on the perimeter to drive a wide-open lane for the slam.
Rather than ease off the gas, Creighton kept rolling, while Nebraska kept doing masonry work. The lead swelled to 38-8 with seven minutes to play, a score that looks even more improbable Monday morning than it did at the time. With 6:47 to go, Nebraska’s Leslee Smith rattled home a jumper to give them ten points — as a team, mind you — and the CU student section serenaded them with chants of “Double-Digits! Double-Digits!” Holding a 51-25 lead at the break, the only drama remaining was how many points Creighton would win by, not whether or not they’d win.
Lost in the flurry of three-pointers was a stout defensive effort by the Jays, who time after time denied open looks and forced Nebraska into bad shots. They identified Ray Gallegos as the only Husker capable of torching them from behind the arc, and face-guarded him every second he was on the court to keep him from getting confident. And they didn’t allow top scorer Terran Petteway to get to the rim, where he does most of his damage, forcing him to take jump shots when he was able to get off a shot at all. He was visibly frustrated at several points during the first half — shaking his head after missed shots, jawing at CU players on defense, and at several points demonstrably ignoring his coaches during timeouts — and that frustration would boil over late in the game.
The Jays took the air out of the ball in the second half, with the final 20 minutes more about protecting the lead than growing it. Nebraska made occasional runs, all of them answered by Creighton to push the lead back out, until a late-game 30-15 Husker run when the Jays had essentially stopped pressuring the ball and were simply milking the clock.
That late surge didn’t pacify Petteway’s temper, apparently, and when Gibbs jumped on him in a scrum for the ball, he lost his cool. Petteway’s scouting report notes that he has a history of doing just that, illustrated best by an instance where he was ejected from a game at Texas Tech two years ago for throwing a punch right in front of an official. Gibbs pushed his buttons all night, subtly jawing at him, distracting him from the game, knowing that eventually he’d snap and hurt his team. Some people call him a dirty player for it, and maybe so, but that’s not entirely accurate. He’s more of a master instigator, playing mind games with opponents until they act out. See: at Illinois State in 2012, vs North Carolina in the 2012 NCAA Tournament…and on and on.
That’s a distraction from the real story, though. When it mattered — when the game was in doubt — Creighton absolutely SMACKED Nebraska on both ends of the floor. From the opening tip, they clobbered the visitors from Lincoln.
Quotables:
“Our focus today was, we wanted to shut them down early. We wanted to make them take the shots that we wanted them to take, not the shots they wanted, and challenge everything. I think the early charge call discouraged from from putting their heads down and driving to the rim, and then we were able to challenge all of their jumpers, and once we did that, we got the rebound, got our offensive transition going, and then…when Ethan and Doug shoot like that, there’s not much any team in the country can do about it.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
(On the rivalry with Nebraska) “It’s meant so much to me. My freshman year is the only time I’ve lost to those guys, and that was the time I didn’t really understand how important it was for our community and for our fans and for our campus. We all hear about Nebraska football, and Nebraska everything all through the fall, so whenever we get a chance to play them on the hardwood, we want to give it 110%. We never want to come up short against them, because we get a year of bragging rights if we do the right things and prepare to win. The last three years have obviously been very special to win this game and it’s definitely going to be one of those games I’ll miss playing in.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
“The guys did a good job of finding me in transition. Grant really got me going with that open one in the corner, at the very beginning of the game, and when I was able to make it they were forced to take a timeout. Right after that timeout, we knew we had them right where we wanted them. We didn’t want to take our foot off the gas pedal, and we did exactly that.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
“We have a lot of guys that have done this for three or four years, so we know how to prepare now. We understand what to look for, as far as tendencies. This year, more so than in the past, we’ve had time to watch film individually on our own. When guys are bored in their dorm room, they pop in a tape or they check it out online and they watch the guy they’re guarding, so they can figure out what he likes to do, what his tendencies are, and then are able to focus on that on the practice floor. When we have a week to plan, like we did for Nebraska, you can see what that does for us. We were in the right spots defensively, we boxed out, we crashed the boards, we were able to get in transition, we found the open guy…when we have time to really prepare for an opponent, we can be as good as any team in the nation, I feel.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
“Defensively, we understand we’re not the best athletes out there. But we also understand that we’ve been doing this together for a while, so we understand not only our own weaknesses but everyone else’s, too, and we try to help out as much as we can. Myself, for example, I’m not the best on-ball defender. So the guys that are hedging (screens) for me know they need to do a better job of taking pressure off me so I can recover back to my guy. At the same time, with Ethan and Doug, they’re not necessarily the best post defenders. So myself and Austin have to be active, go for the ball and try to get it out of there so they don’t get exposed.” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
(On Finals) “I’m already stressing about it (laughing). I have three, plus a piano recital, actually, that I’m really looking forward to. I was looking for a piano for three or four days out in California, so I could practice, and I finally gave up. When I came back, and I practiced for the first time, man I was rusty. A couple of students were studying in the same room I was practicing in, and I could just tell that they wanted to turn up the volume on their iPhones. So to those students, if you’re listening, I apologize. (laughing)” -Jahenns Manigat on 1620AM Postgame Show
“This win means a lot. I look forward to this game every year. It’s an intense rivalry, with both fan bases going at it, so I’ve really glad we pulled off the win.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“That start was one of the best starts we’ve ever got off to as a team. It’s a little bit human nature to do what happened in the second half, but I think we’re too veteran of a team to allow that to happen. We’ll learn from that.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“We really keyed on not letting Gallegos get started. We know he’s their best perimeter guy, and Jahenns did a great job on him. We took them out of their rhythm, got the crowd into it, and from there it’s history. We need to continue to do that and take advantage of the great fans we have.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“We’ve all done a good job this week in focusing on boxing our man out. Ethan’s going to be there to clean ’em up, he’s a rebounding machine (laughing). He’s a rebounder and a sniper (laughing). But no, I think Will Artino coming off the bench is a great move, he seems to play with more energy.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“I saw a lot of different guys on me. The main key was to try to get some of their guards to have to play me outside, and to work it into the post, but what was really effective was that ball screen with Will. We got a lot of different looks off of that. We’ve been working on that in practice a lot, with both Will and Ethan, to not only get shots inside but work it for open looks for them too. Just creating shots that way, instead of out of a set. That’s what we’ve been really focusing on, and personally, I’ve been working on my handles, trying to come off of those ball screens to make either a shot or a pass.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“Defensive chemistry is everything. Knowing the tendencies of the guy you’re guarding, because our coaches bust their butts watching film, getting us what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and I think we’re really starting to buy into those and really focus on that stuff. We’re not the most athletic group on the defensive end of the floor, but if we continue to work together, we’ll be fine.” -Doug McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“We were locked in to start the game, and executed our plan on both ends of the floor. We took the shots we wanted, they took the shots we wanted them to take, we controlled the boards, we got our transition game going. It’s human nature when you get up that big, is you lose your edge and lose your focus. I’m disappointed that that happened. I’m disappointed that we didn’t adjust to their adjustments as well as we needed to, both on the floor and on the bench. We as a coaching staff have to do a better job of putting the guys in position to be a little more successful than we were in the second half. But after all of that, it’s a win over Nebraska, and there’s a lot of emotion that goes into this game for everybody.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“I’ve been impressed with this team. I think they can score some points. We did a good job in the first half of frustrating them, but then in the second half they decided to put their heads down and just drive it. They can do that, and that’s why they’re shooting almost 30 free throws a game. First half, I thought we did a good job of controlling that. Second half, not so much.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
(On being 11-0 against Tim Miles) “I don’t keep track, and it isn’t any factor. You guys in the media are kind enough to remind me of that, but we’ve had some great battles over the years and we’ve been fortunate to win a few. There’s been times we’ve had good teams play against each, and there’s been times we’ve had bad teams play against each other.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“We’re so efficient and unselfish in transition that it allows us to get loose. We just couldn’t get stops for awhile. Some of it was them driving the basketball, some of it was we had a couple of miscommunications of switches that can’t happen. Both of them were Gibbs, so I was all over him there at halftime. He has to be rock solid for us in that department, just to make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do. When we were communicating early, and we were covering gaps, they didn’t have anywhere to drive. We were able to do that, and take Gallegos away, which was our goal — it’s hard to do, but we were able to accomplish that.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“Gallegos was the one guy that we felt could make six or seven three-pointers if you let him get started and let him get loose. Jahenns did a great job on him, Avery guarded him a little bit, Isaiah guarded him as well, and those guys were solid defensively. They understood that you’re in the gap, looking like you’re helping, but really you’re going back to him. We chased him off those screens, and made him refuse some of them, which is exactly what we wanted to do. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the guys executed our plan. For the first 15 minutes of the game, it was absolutely perfect. It was a thing of beauty on both ends of the floor. And to Nebraska’s credit, a lot of teams would have rolled over. They didn’t, they came back fighting, they pressed a little, got into a zone. We got a little stagnant. I hope we get a little more practice at playing with a 30-point lead. I kind of like it. It’s not something that you become accustomed to. It just doesn’t happen that often.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“I’ve liked Will’s energy the last two games coming off the bench. I’ve been talking to him about getting more rebounding out of that position, and he was outstanding in that regard. Seven rebounds in eleven minutes, that’s more of the Will Artino from last year, where he was so efficient with the minutes he played. He went four or five games in California and had a couple of rebounds, so we’ve been talking to him about that, and I think Will has accepted that he’s a very important part of this team — but right now, let’s go with this and see what happens. It’s not that we’ll do it the rest of season, but it’s worked short-term.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
“Doug’s focus was great to start the game. The thing I’ve got to challenge him with is, when I give him that first break, he needs to take that rest mentally and physically but while he’s doing it, try to recreate that focus he had to start the game. He’s not great at that right now. He didn’t feel like he had a great warm-up, I got them out a little late for the second half. But Doug’s playing at a high level. He had one bad game, where he missed some shots he normally makes, but he was active tonight. We’re trying to get him to curl into the basket on some of those screens, and I thought he made some great reads on those.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
(On the scuffle) “I was kind of blocked. I was watching the ball, and they just got tangled up. There weren’t any punches thrown or any elbows thrown or anything, I think they were just kind of holding each other. It’s kind of typical Grant (laughing), let’s be honest, he has a tendency to be involved in those sorts of things.” -Coach Greg McDermott on 1620AM Postgame Show
And Now, Here’s What You Had To Say:
10 minutes in and we are on pace for a 104-24 win in favor of Creighton #GoJays
— Patrick Mulhall (@thetajMULHALL) December 8, 2013
These Blackshirts looking similar the football version. Dropped passes, no rhythm and mass confusion #gojays — Steve Henneberry (@shenneberry) December 8, 2013
The “pricks” according to a former Husker player, are putting on a clinic on how TEAM basketball is played. #gojays #rolljays — Jimmy Motz (@JimmyMotz) December 9, 2013
“Creighton up 40-10. Bluejay students chanting “double digits” after Huskers last basket.” @JDSchreiber — Lauren (@Ltsmith016) December 9, 2013
Nebrasketball fans before game: “We’re going to beat you, things are changing.” After game: “You were supposed to beat us anyways.” #GoJays — Jordan Evans (@fakerealsteveo) December 9, 2013
Fun to watch tweeps react to the scrum. #Creighton fans & media ripping Petteway, #Huskers fans & media ripping Gibbs. I just laugh #neutral
— Thor Tripp (@ThorTripp) December 9, 2013
Great to be back and great WIN for @BluejayMBB tonight! #RollJays
— Billy Bluejay (@Billy_Bluejay) December 9, 2013
I was going to come up with a clever caption, but I don’t think it needs 1. Great pic. RT @cucoachmac @DoubleGfor3 pic.twitter.com/WxWIeaWwNl
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) December 9, 2013
Having been a Creighton basketball fan for a long time, it’s surreal seeing the Jays be accused — multiple times — of being too physical.
— Danny O’Byrne (@dannyobyrne) December 9, 2013
@IamRobSimms I just got that update from Bluejay headquarters in Massachusetts. You just can’t keep up.
— Kevin Kugler (@kevinkugler) December 9, 2013
Regardless of tonight, NU will have an encouraging season, Creighton a disappointing one & I’ll enjoy it. My disdain has been reinvigorated.
— Jack Mitchell (@JackM_KLINRadio) December 9, 2013