NU v Creighton

[Eric the Red]

Huskers Drop First Road Game

 

Omaha – It was a tale of two halves on Saturday for the Nebraska men’s basketball team, as NU outscored Creighton by 15 in the second half, but 17 first-half turnovers led to an insurmountable lead as the Huskers fell to the Bluejays 74-62.

 

 

 

Despite the Huskers’ second-half rally that saw Creighton’s 27-point halftime lead shrink to nine points just 13 minutes into the second period, the game was essentially decided by Nebraska’s inability to get into a consistent offensive rhythm in the first half. Highlighting the Huskers’ first-half struggles was a crucial 6:03 stretch where Creighton outscored Nebraska 24-3. During the decisive run, CU forced six NU turnovers, which led directly to 13 Bluejay points. Creighton also hit 7-of-7 from 3-point range during the stretch, which included separate runs of 10-0 and 14-0.

 

 

 

Creighton’s offense was reliant on converting turnovers into points, as 30 of the Bluejays’ 74 points came off Husker turnovers, including 26 points in the first half. Not surprisingly, when Nebraska cut its turnover total to just four in the second half, the Bluejays scored 20 fewer points.

 

 

 

By that point the damage was already done, as the Huskers (3-1) lost for the first time this season.

 

 

 

Despite the setback, there were several bright spots for the Huskers, including the play of newcomers Steve Harley and Cookie Miller. Miller had a career high in points in the first half and finished the contest with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He had scored just 11 points in the Huskers’ first three games.

 

 

 

Harley took over in the second half, scoring all of his career-high 14 points in the frame, when he hit 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Together, Harley and Miller totaled 33 points to match their combined total from the Huskers’ first three contests.

 

 

 

Dane Watts helped Creighton (3-0) stay undefeated on the season by scoring 14, while Lincoln native Nick Bahe added 11.

 

 

 

Nebraska struggled to find any kind of a rhythm in the first half, as the Huskers turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions before Aleks Maric recorded the game’s first points nearly two minutes into the contest to give NU its only lead of the game.

 

 

 

Creighton led by double digits for the final 10:02 of the first half, as all nine Bluejays who attempted a shot in the half made a basket. Creighton hit 14 of its first 22 shots en route to better than 56 percent shooting in the half. CU was especially deadly from 3-point range, as the Bluejays hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc.

 

 

 

Nebraska trimmed the halftime deficit to 20 by the first media timeout after the break and the Huskers outscored Creighton by 13 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

 

 

 

Five straight points from Harley cut the deficit to single digits at 61-52 with 6:56 remaining and again closed the gap to nine less than a minute later. The Huskers missed a golden chance to creep even closer as they held the Bluejays without a field goal for 4:27, but only outscored Creighton by a 12-6 margin during that stretch. CU hit six of its 13 second-half free throws to keep the Huskers at bay.

 

 

 

Nebraska returns to action on Monday, when the Huskers host IPFW for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tickets for that match are available by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED or online by clicking here.

[huskerfan500]

what I game, we almost came back after one of the worst basketball halves I have ever seen in my life, I mean some middle school teams don't have as many turnovers as that, anyways that was a good comeback but the team is going to have to improve if they want to do good in the big 12

[Vizsla1]

Too bad NU did not play in a bigger game before they took on Creighton. That experience should help them when they play Oreon at the Qwest. I am very encourage from what I saw (second half) including the trips I have taken to Devaney. Their initial turn overs where dribbles off their toes and not from the full court pressing. That was something that was killing us last year. Maric needs to play with a little more confidence in the paint. They seem to have an easy time pushing him around. I mentioned it before, do not be surprised by a 20 win season and a possible trip to the big dance.

[dapitdog1]

You are kidding about the 20 wins...right?

 

Jeez......anymore of that kool-aid left?

 

Slingblade will have his hands full with the team when it hits the Big XII

[huskerfan500]

They could have 20 wins but they will have to improve, there is a lot of promise for this team hopefully they make it work

[AuroranHusker]

I think this team can win 18-20 games... hopefully the higher side of that.