OMAHA | Isaiah Zierden scored 17 points, Geoffrey Groselle added 15 and Creighton defeated Nebraska 83-67 on Wednesday night, the Bluejays’ fifth win in a row over their in-state rival.
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Nebraska’s Andrew White III attempted to carry the Cornhuskers on his back, to no avail. “I would say he’s still doubtful for Wednesday”, head coach Greg McDermott told reporters. Maybe the Bluejays also have been looking ahead because after starting 5-1, they have lost to Arizona State and Loyola Chicago by a combined five points.
A 3-pointer from Webster started to turn the tide, as Nebraska chipped away, using a 10-2 run to pull within 22-14 after a White 3-pointer with 8:31 left in the half.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) As the final seconds ticked off another Creighton win over Nebraska, the sellout crowd of 17,776 at CenturyLink Center began chanting, “C-U, C-U, C-U”. The Creighton fans finally had something to cheer about after being agitated for the game’s final two minutes because of NU’s fouling to extend the game despite being down 15. He is now 0-12 against McDermott at three different schools including an 0-6 mark at Southwest State (when McDermott was at Wayne State), an 0-2 mark at North Dakota State (when McDermott was at Iowa State) and now 0-4 at Nebraska with McDermott at Creighton.
The annual matchup has swung heavily in favor of the Bluejays in recent years, with Creighton winning eight of the last 10 meetings entering Wednesday.
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth deflects any question about the possibility of an all-Nebraska national semifinal played in Nebraska.
In particular, Miles was unhappy in with his team’s screen-and-roll defense and the way they allowed Creighton’s post players to get angles in the paint.
“We talked to Shavon, too”, Miles said, when asked about strategies to get Shields going. Andrew is the one guy that got going. He made three, for a season-low six points, to go with six rebounds, two assists and five turnovers. But Miles’ history with McDermott goes well beyond that. The Huskers haven’t won over CU in Omaha in the regular-season since 1995…
“Their best player had six points”, McDermott said about Thomas’ performance. “I’ve had some pretty good luck on the basketball floor”.
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Nebraska returns to action Sunday when the Huskers host Rhode Island for an afternoon game.
