Tom Nemitz

@tom.whiteandbluereview.com

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By day: Senior Design Strategist at an Omaha ad agency / By night: Writer, Editor at White & Blue Review covering Creighton Athletics

Greg McDermott said Nebraska’s physicality is what stands out to him from watching film. “Their scoring at the rim has been a challenge for the teams that have played against them, and they’ve really done a good job of getting to the free throw line,” McDermott said this week. “Guarding without fouling is going to be really important to us.”

Fortunately, that plays right into one of Creighton’s biggest strengths: the presence of the three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner. Through four games, their opponents have scored just 9.8% of their points at the line — second fewest in all of D1. A year ago, it was 12.0% and third-fewest in D1. Two years ago, it was 13.2%, the fifth-fewest. Teams who try to make a living off of drawing fouls and hitting free throws generally struggle to do either of those things against CU — and often struggle to score as a result.

Contrast that to Nebraska’s offense, which has gotten 30.3% of their total points on free throws this year (6th most in D1). Last year’s matchup saw Nebraska make 10-of-14 from the line — they had just six games where they attempted fewer free throws, and seven where they made fewer of them.