Creighton vs. Nebraska Pick Center

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SPREAD

TOTAL

Creighton

-200

-4
(-105)

O 147.5
(-112)

Nebraska

+170

+4
(-115)

U 147.5
(-108)

NCAAB

FINAL (12/7/2016)

Time: 09:00 P.M. EST Creighton is set for its first true road game Wednesday, but the Bluejays don't have to stray far from home for their initial challenge in a hostile environment. The 10th-ranked Bluejays will travel just under 60 miles west on Interstate 80 to play in-state rival Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. It is the first time in program history that Creighton is a Top 10 team in either poll in consecutive weeks. The Bluejays (8-0) remained No. 10 in the Associated Press poll while moving from No. 12 to No. 10 in the USA Today coaches poll Monday. The annual showdown for bragging rights has been lopsided in Creighton's favor in recent seasons, and Bluejays coach Greg McDermott has never lost a game to a Tim Miles-coached team. Bluejays guard Khyri Thomas, a sophomore from Omaha, said the Creighton coaches are more into the rivalry aspect than he is." Now that I'm at Creighton, it's starting to become a big deal," Thomas said. "Last year I got a little taste of it, but this year we're going there. The coaches are always amped up about it, so I guess I have to get amped up as well." It's just another game. I'm ready to play, get the win and on to the next game." While the Bluejays played three games away from CenturyLink Center, all of those were at a neutral site in the Virgin Islands. McDermott expects to know much more about the Jays by the time the game ends late Wednesday night." I wish we would have had one other true road game before to get out feet wet, but we're going to go into the fire right away," McDermott said. "I'm going to learn a lot about our team on Wednesday, whether we can go into an environment like that, where it's loud and there are plenty of distractions because of the energy and the crowd. We have to be able to focus our way through it." Nebraska (5-3) took an 11-point loss to No. 2 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and a two-point setback to Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. McDermott said Miles has the Huskers on the right track." He's got them playing well," McDermott said. "They've got a couple of near-misses against some really good teams." Two Huskers specifically mentioned by McDermott as having good starts to the season were Glynn Watson Jr. and Tai Webster. Those pair are averaging a combined 30.7 points per game, with Webster setting the pace at 16.9. How the two teams get things done on offense and defense are vastly different. Creighton is the only team in the country that is shooting better than 50 percent from the field in all its games, and the Bluejays average 90.2 points per game. The Huskers are making shots at a clip of 42.5 percent through their first eight games while averaging 69.1 points per outing. Nebraska is giving up 62.5 points per game, while Creighton surrenders 73.9 each time out. McDermott said the Huskers aren't a team the Bluejays can take lightly. He noted that none of Creighton's current starters have played in the rivalry game in Lincoln." They're playing with a lot more confidence," McDermott said. "Nebraska's a very capable basketball team, and we're going to have to have our 'A' game if we going to go in there and expect to win." The Wednesday contest begins a rough week for Nebraska, which plays at No. 3 Kansas on Saturday." It's a big week for us to come prepared and play our game and execute what Coach Miles wants us to do," Watson told huskers.com. "It's big. It's a chance for us to show our game and show that we can play with the best teams, also. It's big, but we've got to prepare and execute whatever we've got to do to get the W."