Each year, my cousin and I take turns taking each other to the Creighton-Nebraska game. He has the UNL season tickets and I have the Creighton tickets. It is a good excuse to get together at least once a year. (BTW, my cousin and I and another friend had some lunch at the Rock Bottom in the Old Market where Famous Dave’s used to be and it was great. When you can have your own beer tap at your table, it has to be good, right?) Going into yesterday’s game, neither one of us had an idea how our teams would fare. Nebraska, coming off a couple of wins including one on the road at USC and Creighton waiting a long week since going 0-fer in Orlando, you would expect the advantage to Nebraska. However, one has to remember how much Nebraska struggles at the Qwest Center.
Nebraska’s focus was to shut down Creighton from the perimeter. And that is what they did holding Creighton to one three-pointer for the evening by Darryl Ashford in the corner late in the first half. But instead, I think we saw the evolution of Kenny Lawson and Creighton being able to establish a new facet of the game, one that has been missing for quite some time.
Lawson had a nice game against Iona to finish out the Old Spice Classic and actually had been the most consistent player so far this season continually showing improvement. I had mentioned to a friend at halftime that I thought Kenny could dominate the game if they would just get the ball to him. And sure enough to start the second half, Lawson got the ball the first two possessions and made his presence known immediately. Kenny ended up having a huge night with a career high 25 points and pulling down 10 boards for his first career double-double. He was 7-13 from the field, but hit shots exactly when they were needed and was 11 of 12 from the line. And the best part is that his teammates looked to get the ball into him as the perimeter was heavily guarded by the Huskers.
Then on the other side, you had Antoine Young looking like the Creighton point guard of old. He was obviously faster than the Nebraska players on the court and put in a solid 35 minutes of play, scored 9 points had three assists and one turnover. P’Allen Stinnett only had 5 points, but had 4 assists and 2 steals and the key stat–0 turnovers. Add in Cavel Witter’s 13 points and as a team shooting 26-of-32 from the line, the Bluejays took it to the Huskers and Nebraska did not have an answer.
The Bluejays did look a little timid at times, but they played hard and that is all everyone asks for, right? The rotation was also changed as well with 6 players getting over 20 minutes (Lawson, Stinnett and Young all over 28) while three others put in 11 minutes of play. However, everyone contributed and everyone worked hard to get a win. This was a confidence building game. You can’t beat doing it against your in-state rival.
The Qwest Center was the loudest of the season and the people in the booth brought out all the stops as they played the Hoosiers AND Cheers clips to get the crowd going (Nothing against these because they seem to do their job and people like them, but really isn’t there something else to use than these same clips?) They also brought back the Dance Cam for the night, though I think people were a little shocked that it was there and it probably didn’t get the crowd involved as you would have hoped because it kind of came out of nowhere.
Now the Bluejays get ready to hit the road again, this time for a game with George Mason in the Bracketbusters return game from last season. It will be a bit of a homecoming for Justin Carter as he grew up just up the road from Fairfax. I’m sure the players are chomping at the bit to get back on the court again. With two games in two weeks, it can’t come soon enough. But after Sunday’s performance, opponents have to prepare for more than just Creighton’s outside shooting, but also the inside game clearly established against the Huskers.