Nebraska’s gameplan coming into this game was no secret, because it’s the same one they used the last three years in this series and have made their defensive identity in an undefeated start to the 2025-26 season. They pack the paint to take away close-range shots, clog passing lanes to prevent free-flowing ball movement and force them to pass it to the corners, then use the baseline as an extra defender. And because their defenders spend most of their time inside the arc to accomplish those goals, they’re OK with their opponent attempting statistically lower-percentage three-pointers.
That’s why so many observers were saying before the game that three-pointers would be the key — Creighton had to make Nebraska pay for that gamble. It didn’t take long to realize they were not going to do so.
Seven minutes and 28 seconds, to be exact.
Trailing 15-2 when Greg McDermott finally called timeout, it was too late to stop the bleeding — there had been blood in the water for long enough that the sharks were not only circling, they had already begun to devour their prey. The Jays were 1-of-13 from the floor and 0-of-7 from three-point range. Meanwhile Nebraska was 5-of-10 from the field with two free throws and was 3-of-5 from three.
And as the missed threes kept piling up, Creighton’s guards seemed hesitant to force the issue by driving into the teeth of the defense. There were very few attempts to use a shot fake to get their defender out of position, or maybe even up in the air, and draw a foul. Or to use Nebraska’s paint-heavy defense against them by driving inside, being patient enough to let the defense collapse, and then knowing where the open shooter would be.
“With every miss, I thought their defense had a little more teeth to it,” McDermott said, “and we just didn’t respond or react to it very well. I expected a better performance today than what we had.”
For awhile, at least, the Jays’ defense kept the game in striking distance. Creighton started 3-of-20 from the field; Nebraska was only slightly better at 7-of-23 over the same period. At the 4:56 mark, CU had cut the deficit to 20-14 and for the only time all day, had real momentum.
And then their old nemesis, defensive rebounding, broke their backs. Seconds after Nik Graves made two of three free throws to cut the lead to six, the closest it had been since the early moments, they gave up not one but two offensive rebounds on the same possession — both by Rienk Mast. Given three chances at a shot, Nebraska finally cashed in with a three from Jamarques Lawrence. Creighton missed two consecutive threes, Mast followed with one of his own, and it was suddenly a 12-point lead again at 26-14. It would never be closer than that again.
That 90-second sequence was the Jays’ lone opportunity to erase their slow start and make this a ballgame. They couldn’t capitalize, and went into halftime down by 14. And then instead of coming out of the break as the aggressor, they came out with exactly the same mindset they had for the first 20 minutes. Less than four minutes into the second half they trailed by 23, 45-22, after allowing Nebraska to start on a 12-3 run.
That’s right: Nebraska started the first half on a 15-2 run, and the second half on a 12-3 run. Even worse, they ended the first half on an 11-3 run — so over the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half, the Huskers landed a 23-6 knockout blow. The start to the game put the Bluejays in a hole, but where they lost the game was over those minutes spanning the two halves.
“I thought we waited too long to make a move,” McDermott said. “We’d catch it in the corner and as we told the guys all week, they’re going to send you baseline. When you catch it you’ve got to go, because by holding it a count, you’re just giving the defense one more count to get everybody set where they needed to be. For whatever reason we were really hesitant. It’s not like we didn’t practice it — we knew what was going to be there, and probably more importantly, what wasn’t going to be there against a team like Nebraska…They’re like Iowa State but a little different, not quite as aggressive, not quite as many fouls. So it isn’t like we haven’t seen it before, and we had three days to prepare. It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to take the stuff we worked on on the practice floor and put it to better use on the game floor.”
The Bluejays’ inability to define clear roles for their personnel after nine games is a problem. Their lack of a clear leader — the player who can put their head down and go get a bucket to stop an opponent’s scoring run from snowballing — is a bigger problem. On Sunday, those issues were compounded against an opponent that knows exactly who they are.
“Their role players are really champions in their role. That’s a little bit harder to accomplish in this day and age, because guys don’t necessarily stay in one place,” McDermott said of Nebraska, though it might also have been a veiled message to his own team. “Sam Hoiberg was the difference in the game today. I’ve known Sam a long time, and he doesn’t care if he scores or if he gets an assist. He just wants to win. Cale Jacobsen falls into that same boat. They just do whatever their team needs them to do. It’s not about them.”
It’s a spot Creighton has not found themselves very often under McDermott. One-third of the way through the season, there might be more questions than answers — and frankly, more questions today than there were in October. He acknowledged as much, saying for the second time in as many weeks that he’s more concerned about his own team than their upcoming opponent because their issues are in their own gym.
“I’ve got to hold some guys to higher standards on a few things, and at the end of the day that’s on me. Your team ends up being a reflection of what you allow,” McDermott said pointedly in his press conference when talking to writers covering both schools. “There’s been some slippage and an inability to take things from the practice floor to the game floor that we have to get fixed. I think we have some guys that are getting better and those guys that are getting better are going to play a little bit more.”
A few minutes later on his postgame radio show, talking to a partisan Creighton audience, he went deeper and further, his criticism more pointed.
“I’m giving these guys the benefit of the doubt. This is a grind to learn all this, because I’ve had guys that have tried to learn it before and it takes a while, but we’re nine games in,” he said. “And nine games in I can’t coach communication, I can’t coach effort, not anymore. I need guys that wanna fight every single day, that wanna do what Sam Hoiberg and Cale Jacobsen did out here tonight. Guys that are gonna fight tooth and nail regardless of what happens and then go from there. Hopefully this was humbling for our locker room and we can respond to it in practice this week.”
Six weeks ago the Jays were ranked in the preseason Top 25. On Monday, December 8 they’re 5-4 and have already been called out twice by their coach for a lack of effort and communication. Those are bedrock principles of Creighton basketball, and they’re lacking in both right now. Is it too late to fix? Not yet, but as Yankees great Yogi Berra once said, it’s getting late early.
“We’ve just gotta move forward. It’s a long season and we cannot be worrying about this loss. We have a good opponent, Kansas State, next and they’re not worried that we lost at Nebraska. They’re not worried about that. They’re trying to prepare for us,” Austin Swartz said on the postgame radio show. “The season keeps going. It doesn’t stop just because you lost to Nebraska or you lost to Baylor, whoever you lost to, the season keeps going. My parents always told me you can’t live in the past, you gotta live in the present. And the present is no longer this Nebraska game, it’s practice, practice, practice until the next game.”
Inside the Box:
Creighton shot 30.8% from the field, their worst shooting performance since a loss to Colorado State in November 2023 where they shot 27.9%. Their 24.2% percentage from three-point range was lower than all but four games a year ago, and their 50 points were their fewest since a 62-48 loss at No. 1 UConn on Jan. 17, 2024. And they had three separate stretches of three minutes or more without a made basket.
The Jays started the game 2-of-18 from the floor, and were 3-of-21 from three-point range in the first half alone. Had they not made a more concerted effort to try to get shots inside after halftime, they’d have been on pace to attempt the second-most threes in a game in program history.
Their five starters combined for 21 points on 4-of-21 shooting with five assists and seven turnovers. Most damning? Those five players combined to make one lone shot from inside — Jasen Green’s mid-range jumper that tied the game 2-2 with 17:18 left in the first half. For the remaining 37:18, they were 0-for on two pointers.
Josh Dix and Nik Graves had nine points apiece to lead the starters. Graves scored just two in the second half on two shot attempts, both points coming at the free throw line, with zero assists. He played just eight minutes after halftime, part the result of the lopsided score and part due to his lack of production in any area. Ty Davis matched his scoring output in the second half, but added two rebounds and two assists.
Meanwhile, all nine of Dix’ points came in the second half, meaning the Jays’ starting backcourt gave them one productive half apiece. Dix’ scoreless first half saw him attempt just two shots in nearly 18 minutes, as Nebraska completely put the clamps on him. His first points of the day came at the 15:25 mark of the second half when Creighton was already behind by 23.
It could be worse. Blake Harper scored one point and played just seven minutes in the second half, though his struggles opened the door for Austin Swartz to provide the lone bright spot from an otherwise bleak day. Swartz scored 16 points to lead all scorers, taking 15 of the team’s 52 shots (and making seven of their 16 made baskets). Unafraid and undaunted, he repeatedly drove into the teeth of the defense and hit tough shots.
There will be some growing pains in exchange for giving Swartz a bigger role, especially defensively, but at this point it’s worth a try. He gives them an element they don’t get from other backcourt options right now — both the athleticism to create his own shot and the fearlessness to try to make a play. Ordinarily, a player who needs 15 shots to score 16 points is less than ideal in Creighton’s offense. But this isn’t an ordinary Creighton roster.
“You know, we really worked on what was going to be there and when we executed right and did what we’re supposed to do, good things happened. Austin (Swartz) found the holes in it, in the middle of the defense, while other guys were either late to get there or didn’t get there at all,” McDermott said. “He really did some good things which is good to see. We’ve got to build on that and get ready for next week.”
Swartz credited the Bluejay scout team for getting the team ready, and said the rotational players just didn’t execute.
“I feel like we got a lot of good shots that were shots we wanted, that we knew were going to come, and we just happened to not lock them down,” Swartz said. “I think there was few plays where we had a turnover where we knew what was coming and somebody else didn’t make the right cut or somebody didn’t move to the open area. We practiced all week for it, and we didn’t execute to a high level today.”
“It’s not easy, if it was easy we would do it. But that’s why you game plan, that’s why you practice all week and then you have to execute. There’s no way other to get around it than executing,” Swartz added. “And like I said, we didn’t cut enough and we didn’t move to the open area enough when you drive that baseline. There were some times where we didn’t even drive to the baseline. Um, you know, sometimes we try to go middle and the middle wasn’t there. They’re taking it away. We still tried to force it to the middle. So it’s just execution. It always comes down to execution and we didn’t do a good enough job of execution today.”