Nebraska bottles up Ryan Kalkbrenner, defeats Creighton

Field Level Media|published: Fri 22nd November, 22:42 2024

Nov 22, 2024; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Juwan Gary (4) dunks against the Creighton Bluejays during the first half at CHI Health Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Juwan Gary scored 16 points with seven rebounds and helped make Ryan Kalkbrenner a non-factor on offense as visiting Nebraska upset No. 14 Creighton 74-63 on Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Brice Williams also finished with 16 points for Nebraska (4-1). Connor Essegian had a season-high 15 points, Berke Buyuktuncel added 12 points and nine boards and Rollie Worster scored 11.

In the paint, Nebraska's frontcourt smothered Kalkbrenner, the Bluejays' star center who is considered one of the best players in college basketball. He was held to 0-for-1 field-goal shooting in 39 minutes.

The 7-foot-1 senior was held without a made field goal for the first time since Feb. 8, 2022, against Butler. He finished with four points on 4-of-8 free-throw shooting and had 11 rebounds.

With the inside locked down, Creighton (4-1) took 42 of its 52 shots from 3-point range. Pop Isaacs led the Bluejays with 25 points, including 5-of-12 shooting from deep.

Making matters worse for Creighton, guard Steven Ashworth went down in pain late in the second half and had to be helped off the court, unable to put any weight on his right foot. Ashworth scored 16 points and had seven turnovers.

The Cornhuskers opened the party with a 3-pointer from Gary and never trailed the Bluejays. They broke out to a 31-13 lead thanks to an 11-0 run while Creighton went an ice-cold 0-for-6 from the floor with four turnovers in the same span.

Jackson McAndrew hit a 3-pointer and Kalkbrenner added three free throws as Creighton crept within nine points, but Williams hit a jumper in the final seconds to give Nebraska a 35-24 halftime edge.

Early in the second half, Jamiya Neal (10 points for Creighton) stole a lazy Nebraska pass at midcourt and took it in for a dunk, but the home crowd's optimism was short-lived. The Bluejays got as close as seven points with 15 minutes to play, but Essegian hit three straight shot attempts for Nebraska to reestablish the double-digit margin.

Creighton still had a chance when McAndrew made another triple to cut it to 59-49 with 6:19 to go. The Huskers held the Bluejays to 0-for-8 shooting for the next 5:18 as Nebraska put the game away.

Nebraska outshot Creighton 42.1 percent to 32.7 percent from the field and committed 10 fewer turnovers (seven to 17).

--Field Level Media