Juwan Gary scored 16 points with seven rebounds and made Ryan Kalkbrenner a non-factor on offense as visiting Nebraska upset No. 14 Creighton 74-63 on Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Brice Williams also finished with 16 points for Nebraska (4-1). Connor Essegian had a season-high 15 points, Berke Buyuktuncel added 12 points and nine boards and Rollie Worster scored 11.

In the paint, Nebraska’s frontcourt smothered Kalkbrenner, the Bluejays’ star center considered one of the best players in college basketball. He was held to an 0-for-1 field goal in 39 minutes.

The 7-foot-1 senior was held without a made field goal for the first time since Feb. 8, 2022 against Butler. He finished with four points on 4-of-8 free throws and had 11 rebounds.

With the inside locked down, Creighton (4-1) made 42 of 52 shots from three-point range. Pop Isaacs led the Bluejays with 25 points, including 5-for-12 shooting from deep.

Making matters worse for Creighton, guard Steven Ashworth got sore late in the second half and had to be helped off the field because he couldn’t put any weight on his right foot. Ashworth scored 16 points and had seven turnovers.

The Cornhuskers opened the game with a 3-pointer from Gary and never trailed the Bluejays. They jumped out to a 31-13 lead thanks to an 11-0 run, while Creighton went an ice-cold 0-for-6 from the floor with four turnovers in the same period.

Jackson McAndrew hit a 3-pointer and Kalkbrenner added three free throws as Creighton crawled within nine points, but Williams hit a jumper in the final seconds to give Nebraska a 35-24 halftime lead.

Early in the second half, Jamiya Neal (10 points for Creighton) stole a lazy Nebraska pass at midfield and took it for a dunk, but the home crowd’s optimism was short-lived. The Bluejays came as close as seven points with 15 minutes to play, but Essegian hit three straight shot attempts for Nebraska to restore the double-digit margin.

Creighton still had a chance when McAndrew made another triple to cut the score to 59-49 with 6:19 to go. The Huskers held the Bluejays to 0-for-8 shooting over the next 5:18 as Nebraska put the game away.

Nebraska outgained Creighton 42.1 percent to 32.7 percent from the field and committed 10 fewer turnovers (seven to 17).

–Field-level media