Field Level Media
Dec 7, 2019
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.
--Field Level Media