The question drew sheepish looks from Creighton basketball players Kenny Lawson, Antoine Young and Wayne Runnels.

Did the Bluejays take a step in Sunday's 93-77 exhibition game victory against the University of Nebraska at Omaha?

The players looked at each other, perhaps hoping that someone could pull out a positive. Finally, Lawson replied, “We didn't get outrebounded.”

Young quickly added: “I guess that's a step.”

Not quite the giant stride Creighton might have been hoping to make with Saturday's season opener against nationally ranked Dayton quickly approaching.

Toss in the potentially serious knee injury that senior forward Justin Carter sustained with about eight minutes to play, and one might surmise that smiles were in short order after the game that drew an announced crowd of 14,706 to Qwest Center Omaha.

The root of coach Dana Altman's displeasure was the lack of communication between his players on both ends of the floor.

“We have to do a better job of talking,” said Altman, with plenty of emphasis on the final word. “We're really not organized on both ends of the floor, and that's my fault. It's not getting them to buy into things I know are important.

“We just don't look like we're ready to play defensively half the time. Offensively, I think we will be able to score baskets, but we really have to pull a lot of things together on the defensive end. We're giving up easy baskets because we won't talk or work on our switches. We have a lot of things we can really lock in on and improve. There's going to have to be a sense of urgency in practice this week.”

CU has scored points in bunches in its two exhibition games against Division II opponents from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Jays hung 94 on Missouri Western Wednesday and probably could have hit 100 against the Mavericks if they could have made some free throws.

Creighton shot 59.1 percent from the foul line, slightly higher than its 55.4 percent field-goal accuracy. The Bluejays did finish with a 39-27 rebounding edge after getting battered on the boards 44-28 by the Griffons.

Creighton's shooting percentage was an offshoot of its ability to get the ball inside, with Lawson making 8 of 11 shots in a 20-point game and Runnels 5 of 6 in adding 12 points. P'Allen Stinnett also finished with 12 points.

“We got the ball inside pretty easy,” Altman said, “and that's not going to happen against Dayton.”

Lawson's performance was encouraging after the 6-foot-9 junior had struggled against the Griffons, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds. Against UNO, Lawson had seven rebounds to go along with his team-high scoring total.

“That had a little bit to do with it,” said Lawson, when asked if he brought any extra motivation into Sunday. “Coach has been telling me the last couple of weeks that I've been playing too straight up and down. I tried to focus on playing a little bit lower, and I think that's where a lot of that came from.”

Lawson scored eight of Creighton's first 18 points to help the Bluejays to a three-point lead with 11:46 to play. Jeff Martin then sparked an 18-5 UNO run, making 3 of 5 3-pointers that helped produce a 22-point day, as the Mavericks roared to a 33-23 lead with 7:32 remaining.

“We had a lot of good screens that got me open shots,” Martin said. “It wasn't just me making shots.”

Creighton countered with a 20-2 run during the next four minutes, including scoring 13 straight to take a 36-33 lead. UNO turnovers on three of four possessions at the front end of the run helped fuel the Creighton spurt.

“Turnovers are how runs usually start,” said Andrew Bridger, who added 16 points for the Mavericks. “It kind of went from a 6-0 run to a 10-0 run to where it just got out of control.”

Creighton settled for a 52-44 lead at the half, then spent most of the final 20 minutes on the plus side of double-digit advantages. UNO did close to within seven, 64-57, with 12:47 left, and it trimmed what had been a 16-point deficit in half when Bridger buried a 3-pointer with 8:13 left.

Creighton responded with a 9-0 run, capped by Darryl Ashford's athletic dunk, to push the lead back to 86-69 with 4:38 remaining.

“I was proud of our guys because we competed for 40 minutes,” UNO coach Darrin Hansen said. “We never gave in, and we should be able to build on this.”

Altman said any progress his team makes will have to start with embracing the unglamorous aspects of basketball.

“Scoring points is fun, and everyone stands in line to have a play run for them,” he said. “On the defensive end, none of that's fun. You have to bend your knees, slide your feet, dive on loose balls, take charges.

“This team has to decide whether it wants to do those things consistently and with a purpose. Our guys are doing some good things, but we're just not doing them often enough and for long enough periods of time.”

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com