Creighton hands Huskers another rivalry defeat, 77-69

Nebraska had an opportunity to regain some serious early-season momentum against its in-state rival when Creighton came to town on Tuesday night.

Instead, the Huskers played catch-up from the opening minutes and could never get over the hump in a 77-69 defeat.

Kobe Webster and C.J. Wilcher came off the bench and scored a combined 35 points to help NU trim a 19-point deficit down to as little as one early in the second half.

But Ryan Nembhard kept the Bluejays in control with 22 points and five assists, and Ryan Hawkins drained back-to-back 3-pointers to push a six-point CU lead up to 12 with 1:29 remaining and put the game away.

After shooting 8-for-44 from 3-point range in its first two games, Creighton knocked down 10-of-23 from behind the arc and had nine of their 13 offensive rebounds in the second half.

As a result, Nebraska lost for the 10th time in the past 11 meetings of the series, including dropping to 0-3 under head coach Fred Hoiberg.

The first half featured about two of the wildest swings of momentum imaginable. For the first 10 minutes, Creighton dominated in all phases and used a 28-5 run to go up by as many as 19 points.

But sparked by Webster, making his season debut, Nebraska came storming back and answered with a 21-7 rally of its own to end the half and went into the break down just 40-36.

Webster, who missed the opening two games with a back injury, scored 11 of his 20 points with three 3-pointers in his nine minutes of work in the first half.

Lat Mayen drained a three from the corner to pull the Huskers to within 44-43 less than four minutes into the second half. On the other end, Nebraska then got a defensive stop for a chance to take its first lead, but Bryce McGowens was called for an offensive foul.

That led to an 11-4 spurt for Creighton that extended the lead back to eight with 10 minutes left to play. The Huskers again pulled within a possession at 58-55 on a layup by Alonzo Verge Jr. with 8:37 remaining. But, once again, CU answered with a 10-4 run.

Wilcher finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and two steals, while Verge added 10 points, five boards, and four assists.

As if losing to Creighton for the 10th time in 11 years wasn’t bad enough, Nebraska suffered a potentially even more damaging blow on Tuesday night.

Junior guard Trey McGowens, one of NU’s best players and most important vocal leaders, suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot after landing awkwardly in the first half.

Hoiberg said it was still too early to know how long McGowens might be out and that the team’s medical staff would further evaluate him on Wednesday.

Per various medical websites, recoveries from broken fifth metatarsals generally range anywhere from 10-12 weeks. Hoiberg said he expected McGowens to make a full recovery.

“It’s just devastating news for the heart and soul of our team…” Hoiberg said. “It’s just heartbreaking for a guy that has come in here and bought into his role. He is our best leader…

“He uses his voice every day in practice from the warmup until the end. So a really tough loss. I really feel for him. He’ll have a lot of support through this process, and hopefully, he’ll be back as soon as possible.”

McGowens might not be the Huskers’ top scoring option, but Hoiberg said he brought so much value with his defense and ability to make winning plays at critical points in the game.

Hoiberg said no one player would be able to replicate McGowens’ impact, so it would take a collective effort to fill his void.

Losing McGowens for any amount of time will be difficult for Nebraska, especially considering it already had issues moving the ball properly on offense.

McGowens and Verge have been the two primary point guards this season. While both had their decision-making issues, the drop-off when either was off the floor had been notable.

Now McGowens is out for the foreseeable future, and Verge has seemingly regressed as a facilitator each game.

So who can the Huskers turn to operate the offense moving forward?

Webster’s return is now more critical than ever, and he’ll now be relied upon heavily in NU’s guard rotation whether he’s a starter or not.

Wilcher started the second half in McGowens’ absence and also got the starting nod in place of Mayen in the season opener. He played a team-high 32 minutes against Creighton.

Then there’s Verge, who continues to put up impressive numbers but at a highly inefficient clip. The Arizona State graduate transfer has now attempted 61 shots in his 88 minutes of work through the first three games.

Verge was always going to be a critical piece to Nebraska’s puzzle, but now the season might end up riding on his performance one way or the other.

“He’s had a lot of really good moments in this preseason … (where) he was getting in the paint and making plays,” Hoiberg said of Verge. “Right now, he’s getting into the paint to shoot. He’s got to start understanding that when you get in the paint and kick it and spray it, that’s when you get open shots, and that’s the strength of our team…

“Believe me; I still have 100-percent confidence in Alonzo Verge.”

Every day in practice before each game, Hoiberg writes the key to victory on the team’s locker room whiteboard in big letters.

Nebraska has now failed to achieve its goals in those areas for the past three games.

Against Western Illinois and Sam Houston, the goal was to limit the rebounding discrepancy and the opponents’ second-chance points. The Huskers were dominated in both of those areas in each matchup.

On Tuesday night, the key was containing Creighton in transition. The Bluejays only finished with 10 fast-break points, but Hoiberg said NU’s inability to get back on defense had them scrambling to find shooters in the half-court.

That led to numerous open looks on the perimeter or easy layups off of extra passes for the Bluejays.

“We lost that game in the first five minutes,” Hoiberg said.

Part of Nebraska’s issues in that regard were bad shots leading to run-out opportunities for CU. But the bigger problem that Hoiberg saw was his team not communicating and getting matched up on their assigned shooters after misses.

“That’s what Creighton does,” Hoiberg said. “That’s what they hang their hat on, is getting out in transition. We knew they were way more capable than what their numbers indicated, as were we, but that just opened up the flood gates in the first 10 minutes.”