It’s time once again for the annual I-80 Rivalry between Creighton men’s basketball and Nebraska, featuring two teams in very different places at this early stage of the season.
Coach Fred Hoiberg’s Huskers are off to an 8-0 start with neutral-site wins over Oklahoma and Kansas State and are sitting just outside the top 25 in the AP Poll. The Bluejays are 5-3, though the three losses have all come to power programs, including two squads in the top five on KenPom. The newcomer integration hasn’t quite gone as smoothly in Omaha as it has in Lincoln as the Bluejays still seem to be in search of their identity.
“It’s always a fun game,” Coach Greg McDermott said ahead of Friday’s practice. “It means a lot to the people in the state on both sides. Fred’s got a really good team. They’re playing at a high level right now. A lot of guys just do their job for his team. He’s got some guys that have been around and understand their role, and they’re doing a great job in the roles that he has them playing.”
Nebraska, riding the nation’s longest winning streak spanning back to last season, is 48th in KenPom, eight spots ahead of the Bluejays. Pomeroy’s formula projects a 79-75 Nebraska victory. However, this series hasn’t exactly followed conventional wisdom as of late.
Creighton has won 10 of the last 13 meetings and 20 of the last 26 to take a 30-28 lead in the all-time series. However, the road team has won each of the past four clashes, including an 89-60 blowout for Creighton at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2023-24. In-state products Isaac Traudt (Grand Island) and Jasen Green (Millard North) both played in that game, the only Bluejays still on the roster to do so. They know what kind of atmosphere to expect at the Vault.
“I think we did a really good job of that last time, because we got up early,” Traudt said. “We got off to a really hot start; I remember Baylor [Scheierman] making a ton of 3s. That really helped us get the momentum, get the crowd settled down, because it was rowdy to start the game, but once we kind of got the lead, it settled down. I think that’s the key to our success this game, too.”
The Huskers have six Nebraska high school graduates on their roster, including three in the rotation. That includes Cale Jacobsen, an Ashland-Greenwood alumnus who chose to walk on at Nebraska and has developed into a key rotation piece this season, averaging 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20.5 minutes per game after a strong finish to the season in The College Basketball Crown last year. Traudt and Jacobsen are close friends and played grassroots basketball together in high school.
“It’s awesome,” Traudt said of Jacobsen’s emergence. “He’s carved out a really awesome role for himself. I’m obviously very happy for him. He started as a walk on there, and now he’s a key rotational guy. So obviously, really happy for him. He’s one of my best friends. He’s a guy that will be in my wedding when that day comes. So I’m very happy for him. He’s doing a great job, and I look forward to playing against him again.”
Traudt is second on Creighton’s team in made 3-pointers, shooting 41.9% from deep. With Jackson McAndrew out for the season and freshman Hudson Greer sidelined for at least a couple more weeks, Traudt saw his role expand in Creighton’s win over Nicholls on Tuesday, and that will likely continue to be the case for the immediate future.
“I’ve definitely got to step up in multiple aspects, not just shooting the ball, but defensively and rebounding as well,” Traudt said. “We kind of lost some of that with both of those guys. Hopefully Hudson’s temporarily out, obviously, not for very long. I’ve just got to step up and help the team in as many ways I can.”
McDermott said that although rivalries mean just as much to the fan bases as they always have, the proliferation of frequent transfers means there are fewer players on the rosters who play in rivalry games year after year. Creighton has nine newcomers and only four active players who saw the court against Nebraska last season.
“We have a lot of guys that aren’t from here, and obviously guys that are from overseas too,” Traudt said. “I think they’re starting to get a grasp of it for sure, with kind of how we’re preparing and going through it, and they’ll figure it out, especially once we get there and we’re warming up 90 minutes early and the entire student section is yelling at us. I think they’ll get a feel of it then, for sure, but it’ll be great.”
However, two of Creighton’s additions have played against the Huskers. Iowa transfer Josh Dix went 3-0 against Nebraska during his last two seasons as a Hawkeye, with fellow Iowa transfer Owen Freeman playing in the first two wins before undergoing season-ending surgery. In last year’s regular season finale, Dix and the Hawkeyes handed the Huskers and 83-68 loss at Pinnacle Bank Arena to prevent Nebraska from making the Big Ten Tournament.
“I think it’s great,” Dix said of the atmosphere in Lincoln. “Nebraska fans, they show out no matter what, no matter how the team’s doing, and you respect that. I think it will be a great environment. They’re 8-0 right now and we’ve had some tough losses, so I think people think that they have a good chance to beat us. I think it’s going to bring all the more energy for that game.”
For his five-game career against Nebraska as a Hawkeye, Dix averaged 13.4 points on 59% from the field, including a blistering 14-for-21 from deep, and posted a 4.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Dix credited his teammates and the offensive schemes for his previous success against the Huskers.
“They play a different style of defense than a lot of teams, so if you can find ways to attack it, you can get open looks,” Dix said.
On the other end of the floor, Creighton can’t allow Nebraska’s Iowa transfer, junior Pryce Sandfort, to get open looks of his own. The 6-foot-7 wing is second on the team at 16.1 points per game, adding 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 36.8% on 8.5 3-point attempts per game. Dix will likely draw the primary defensive assignment on his former teammate.
“He’s going to have to draw all our attention,” Dix said. “He’s been shooting it really well this year, and I think we have to focus on him and the big guy, Mast. We have a good game plan right now. But I saw it in practice all last year. He didn’t have the biggest role on the team, but I knew he could do that, and he’s shining right now.”
Rienk Mast is back for the Huskers after knee surgery sidelined him for the entire 2024-25 season, and he hasn’t missed a beat. The 6-foot-10 forward is averaging 17.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 55.4% from the field and 43.2% from deep. Green will likely start on Mast, and his ability to hold his ground inside without needing a double-team could play a large role in determining the outcome.
“He’s difficult,” McDermott said. “Fred uses him kind of like he used Georges Niang when he was at Iowa State. He’s got the ball at the top of the floor and he’s a decision maker. Because he can shoot it so well, you have to respect him a few feet behind the 3-point line, and then he passes it so well as well. He can score a lot of different ways, and I haven’t even talked about in the post. He’s crafty down there as well. We’ve just got to make his catches a little difficult if we can and then try to pressure him.”
Braden Frager, the Lincoln Southwest product who graduated early and redshirted last season, is the third Husker in double figures, averaging 12.1 points and shooting 35.9% from 3 off the bench.
Nebraska is one of the most efficient 2-point scoring teams in the country, converting at a 62.6% rate (11th nationally), and is also solidly above average from deep at 34.6% on the 10th-highest 3-point rate in the country, with 52.2% of their shot attempts coming from beyond the arc. The Huskers also give up one of the highest 3-point rates at 50.3% (360th out of 365 D-I Teams). Opponents have failed to capitalize on those looks, however, shooting just 30.9%.
Creighton hasn’t shot it as well from deep as McDermott anticipated at 33%, but the Bluejays have cleared 35% in three of their past four games including a blistering 17-for-34 performance against Nicholls on Tuesday.
“You’ve got to make some shots,” McDermott said. “When we haven’t played well against Nebraska, we’ve had poor shooting games. Now they have one of the better shooting teams in the country, so on top of making some shots on our end, we’ve got to figure out a way to get them off the 3-point line the best we possibly can. They spread you out in a big way. I think it’s just kind of a fluke for different reasons, but it’s been a great series overall.”
Creighton has allowed the second-lowest 3-point attempt rate in the country this season at just 26.7%, creating a contrast in defensive styles. Both teams rank among the top five nationally in limiting free-throw attempts, so don’t expect to see much time spent at the line.
Nebraska will be Creighton’s second true road game of the season after the Bluejays visited Spokane, Washington, to face No. 11 Gonzaga back on Nov. 11, the team’s second game of the season. McDermott is hoping that experience will help prepare his team for what the Bluejays will walk into on Sunday.
“We went to Gonzaga, and obviously that’s a very difficult place to play, but it’s Gonzaga times two and a half,” McDermott said. “They’re going to have 14,000 people in there instead of 6,000 people. They really support their team there and they do a great job of it. It’s a great building, a great basketball venue, and their fans are into it. We’ve got to do our best to try to keep the fans out of the game the best way we can, and that’s running some stops together.”
Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. CT on FS1 with Connor Onion and Nick Bahe on the call.
