OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha and Creighton men's basketball teams met Thursday night for a charity exhibition game to support hurricane relief, with the Mavericks falling 96-67 at CenturyLink Center Omaha. A crowd of 8,280 attended the event, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund.
Leaders for Omaha
Sophomore
KJ Robinson led the Mavericks with 15 points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 at the line with three steals, an assist and a rebound. Junior
Mitch Hahn registered a double-double with 13 points, a team-leading 12 rebounds and two steals.
Junior
Zach Jackson added nine points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal, and senior
Daniel Norl had eight points, three boards, two steals and a helper. Freshman
Matt Pile rounded it out with six points, four offensive rebounds and a game-high two blocks.
Leaders for Creighton
Creighton was led by a combined 41 points from Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas. Foster shot 8-of-11 en route to 22 points with four 3-pointers and added five rebounds and two assists, while Thomas had 19 points with five boards. Manny Suarez had another double-figure scoring performance with 14 points, and Ronnie Harrell Jr. finished with a game-best 13 rebounds.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 29.9 percent (23-of-77) to Creighton's 50.0 percent (35-of-70) from the field, and the Jays hit 14 threes for the night. CU had the edge on the glass, 52-43, though the Mavericks outrebounded the Jays 19-13 on the offensive end.
Inside the First Half
Creighton shot 51.4 percent (18-of-35) with eight triples in the opening 20 minutes, led by 17 points from Foster and 12 more from Thomas. Robinson paced the Mavericks with seven first-half points, while Hahn, Jackson and Pile each had six more. Hahn also pulled down six caroms.
CU assumed a 20-15 lead early, but the Mavericks battled back with a 6-0 run on a jumper by senior
Renard Suggs before a triple and a free throw from Hahn. The 21-20 advantage was Omaha's last of the game, as the Jays pulled away with a 9-0 run from there. Behind a 29-14 run to close the half, CU led 49-35 at the break.
Inside the Second Half
Hahn pitched in seven points and six rebounds for Omaha in the second stanza, and Robinson poured in eight more points of his own. CU maintained a double-digit lead in the final 20 minutes, never letting Omaha back in under 14.
Noting Tonight's Game
-Tonight's matchup was the first between Omaha and Creighton since an exhibition in 2009.
Up Next
Omaha officially opens the 2017-18 season at Montana State on Friday, Nov. 10. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT in Great Falls, Mont., and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
