Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Creighton Bluejays Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 22nd 2024

Preview and Prediction

According to statistics, No. 14 Creighton has had a strong start to the new season: an unbeaten record, a top-20 KenPom adjusted efficiency rating, and one of the leading scorers in the country.

However, coach Greg McDermott doesn't have to search far to find areas for improvement as the level of competition is about to increase significantly.

Next on the schedule for Creighton is their in-state rivalry game against Nebraska on Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.

Following that, the Bluejays will travel to Las Vegas for the inaugural Players Era Festival where they will face off against San Diego State, No. 23 Texas A&M, and a yet-to-be-determined opponent who may also hold a national ranking. In early December, No. 1 Kansas will come to Omaha as well.

After their 79-56 victory over Kansas City last Saturday, McDermott was asked to evaluate his team's performance through the first two weeks of the regular season.

"I don't think we're anywhere near where we need to be," he stated. "We're heading in the right direction, but I don't think everyone understands the level of readiness we need for next Friday's game and then immediately jumping on a plane on Sunday to head to Vegas for three games. We won't have a moment to catch our breath for the rest of the season."

One area of concern for McDermott was boxing out. Despite outrebounding Kansas City 52-34, the coach was dissatisfied with the fact that the Roos managed to grab 12 offensive rebounds. He also wants to ensure that his team takes quality shots every possession, despite their impressive 52.3 percent shooting from the field this season.

A major contributor to Creighton's success has been center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who began the season with a 49-point game on 20-of-22 shooting against UT Rio Grande Valley. While he has not been able to replicate that performance, Kalkbrenner is currently tied for fourth in Division I with an average of 25.8 points per game and ranks third in the nation with a shooting percentage of 89.1 percent.

Against Kansas City, Kalkbrenner was not the leading scorer for the first time this season. Freshman wing Jackson McAndrew came off the bench to score 15 points, shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and grabbing seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of play. Additionally, all five starters scored between nine and 14 points.

Last year, McDermott's team was well-prepared for the rivalry game, dominating Nebraska 89-60 on the road. However, in their last trip to Omaha, Nebraska turned the tables with a 63-53 victory on December 4, 2022.

The Cornhuskers (3-1) put up a strong fight against Saint Mary's on Sunday, ultimately falling 77-74 in a neutral-site game in South Dakota.

Despite being down by 10 points with four minutes left to play, Nebraska managed to close the gap to just one point. However, they were unable to force overtime as Saint Mary's made their free throws and Brice Williams missed a last-second 3-point attempt.

Williams still finished the game with a career-high 28 points, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. He acknowledged that the physicality of the game was reminiscent of a Big Ten matchup.

"We still have a lot of room for growth, but we're making progress every game," Williams stated. "Since our first exhibition game, we've been improving and developing better chemistry."

Williams leads the Cornhuskers with an average of 18.8 points per game, while Juwan Gary contributes 10.5 points, 2.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.

Creighton's forward Mason Miller, who has been out with an undisclosed injury for the past two games, may return to the court this week according to McDermott.

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Creighton Bluejays Recap DEC 11TH 2020

Marcus Zegarowski scored a game-high 30 points and added nine rebounds and six assists, Ty-Shon Alexander poured in 22 and Mitch Ballock had 13 to lead Creighton to a 95-76 win over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

Eight days after scoring a career-high 32 points, Zegarowski continued his scoring binge by shooting 13-for-19 from the field and 4-for-7 on 3-pointers.

Haanif Cheatham led the Cornhuskers (4-5) with 14 points, Cam Mack tallied 12 and Matej Kavas had 11. Thor Thorbjarnarson made four 3-pointers for a career-high 12 points for the Cornhuskers.

With the win, Creighton leads the series at 27-26 and avenged last season's 94-75 loss to the Cornhuskers. Creighton topped its season average of 77 points with eight minutes left in the game to cruise to their 11th straight home victory.

The Blue Jays made sure not to let Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg add to his impressive run in rivalry games. Hoiberg was 4-0 against Iowa as a player and 3-1 as the Cyclones' coach.

But Creighton quickly jumped out to a 33-7 lead to spoil any thought of a rivalry win for the Cornhuskers.

It was a unique night for Hoiberg and Creighton coach Greg McDermott, especially considering Hoiberg took over at Iowa State in 2010 when McDermott left the Cyclones for the Creighton job. A few years later, Hoiberg coached Doug McDermott in the NBA when he was the head coach for the Chicago Bulls.

The Blue Jays built their lead to 62-35 with 15:42 left in the second half. Nebraska couldn't recover from a bad first-half shooting effort. The Cornhuskers made just three of their first 26 shots, including 1-for-11 display to fall behind 37-8 with 4:47 left.

Zegarowski scored on a layup to pad the lead to 42-14. Creighton shot 17-for-33 from the field, including 8-for-16 on 3-pointers, to lead 48-22 at halftime. Zegarowski led the way by making seven of his 11 shots for 17 points and six boards. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers were on the other end of the spectrum, shooting 8-for-34 and making just three of their 14 3-point attempts.