Turnovers Doom Huskers at Creighton

Omaha - The Nebraska basketball team shot 50.0 percent from the field, but a season-high 20 turnovers doomed the Big Red on the road, as the Creighton Bluejays earned a 67-61 victory over the Huskers at the Qwest Center on Sunday. With the loss, NU fell to 5-2 on the year, including 1-2 on the road, while the Jays improved to 3-4, snapping a three-game losing skid.

The Huskers couldn't find an answer all evening for Creighton's 6-9 junior, Kenny Lawson Jr. Lawson scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Jays used full-court pressure to rattle the Huskers throughout the game. Both teams were sloppy in the first half, committing 12 turnovers apiece and combining for 20 fouls, but Creighton cleaned up its play in the second half, committing just three turnovers, while NU surrendered the basketball eight times.

Lance Jeter led NU with 12 points, and Sek Henry and Ray Gallegos each added 10 in the loss.   

The Huskers applied the defensive pressure early in the game, forcing the Bluejays into four turnovers in the game's opening minutes to take a 9-6 lead. Creighton's full-court pressure began to affect the Huskers though, and the Jays stole the momentum with a 13-0 run over a 4:34 stretch to take a 19-9 lead with 9:46 left in the first half.

Gallegos hit the Huskers' first field goal in nearly six minutes with an easy basket in the lane, sparking a 13-2 run for the Big Red. Quincy Hankins-Cole grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup to make it 19-14, then took a pass in transition and made a layup to pull the Huskers back within three, 19-16. Hankins-Cole continued his strong play for the Huskers, finishing off a shot-clock beating layup and then drawing a charge on the defensive end to bring the Husker fans in the arena to life.

After a Gallegos jumper, the Huskers stole a pass at midcourt and Henry found Brandon Ubel cutting to the basket for a 22-21 Husker lead with 4:28 left, their first lead since the 12:26 mark. After Stinnett answered with a jumper to give the lead back to the Jays, Gallegos canned a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 25-23 NU.

Two straight dunks by Lawson swung the lead back in favor of the Jays, 27-25, and the Bluejays connected on three free throws to push the lead to 30-25. Two free throws by Eshaunte Jones with 12.9 seconds left in the half brought the Huskers back to within three, 30-27, but Antoine Young converted a driving layup at the buzzer to give the Jays a 32-27 advantage going into halftime.  

Creighton came out of the gate strong in the second half, jumping to a 39-31 lead on five points by Kenny Lawson and a reverse layup from Young, part of the Jays' 30 points in the pain. But NU would not go away, going on a 7-0 run to make it 39-38, including an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ryan Anderson. After the Jays moved their lead to 41-39, Brandon Richardson hit a floater to draw even at 41-41 with 10:40 left. Cavel Witter then connected on a shot to put Creighton back up by two, but Gallegos drained his second 3-pointer of the game from the corner to give the Huskers a 44-43 lead.

The Huskers extended the lead to 46-43 after Jeter rebounded his own missed shot and put a layup back in. But Lawson hit four consecutive free throws to put the Jays back in front for good with 8:20 to play, 47-46.

Ryan Anderson fouled out with 3:43 left, and Witter sank the free throws to make it 57-51 Creighton. Henry scored an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it 57-54, but Justin Carter hit his first field goal of the game at an opportune time to make it 59-54 CU with 3:02 remaining. A Jeter 3-pointer drew NU within two, 59-57, but the Huskers again had no answer for Lawson on the other end, as he received an alley-oop to make the score 61-57 with 2:09 left.

Richardson took a 3-pointer from the top of the key with under a minute to play that would have pulled the Huskers within a point, but his attempt was strong, and Young hit two free throws at the other end to put the game out of reach.

Nebraska is back at home on Thursday, Dec. 10, as Chicago St. comes to the Devaney Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m and the game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Midwest. It can also be heard on the Husker Sports Network, 1400 AM in Lincoln, 1110 AM in Omaha, and for free on Huskers.com.