Omaha NE (UND) – The North Dakota men’s basketball team took the loss on Wednesday night at Creighton by a score of 75-60 from CHI Health Center Arena. UND falls to 2-4, while Creighton improves to 3-1.

The Fighting Hawks battled for much of the night, but got outrebounded by the Blue Jays 50-30, giving up 21 offensive rebounds, compared to grabbing nine. Creighton dominated on second chance points, recording 27, while UND had just eight.

North Dakota had three players in double figures offensively, led by freshman Marley Curtis who poured in 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting and 3-for-5 from deep. Greyson Uelmen got into the paint when he wanted to, totaling 13 points, while George Natsvlishvili recorded 10 points and seven rebounds.

UND was within striking distance for a good portion of the game, holding a lead for 3:38 of game time. The Hawks led by as many as five and trailed by as many as 16, but were down just 62-54 with under eight minutes to play. Creighton then went on a 9-2 run to open the lead back to 15 and fended off the Hawks for the victory.

NoDak shot just 23-for-60 (38.3%) from the field, while holding the Blue Jays to 26-for-63 (41.3%) shooting. The first half featured 83 total points with Creighton leading 47-36, but the second half saw just 52 points, as the two squads combined to shoot 2-for-26 from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes. Creighton connected on 1-of-17 three-point attempts in the second half.

UND got off to a good start, jumping out to a 15-10 lead with 14:33 to play, headlined by eight quick points from Curtis and five from Anderson. North Dakota started off 3-for-4 from deep, two made from Curtis and one connected by Anderson.

The Blue Jays turned things around, going on a 14-0 run in the next 4:09 to take a 24-15 lead and went on a 23-5 extended run to corral a 33-20 advantage with 6:31 remaining.

Zach Kraft continued to do what he does best, hitting three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to trim into the deficit, making it 33-26 with 5:48 left.

Creighton responded with an 11-2 run in the next 2:25, making it 44-28, before UND closed the half on an 8-3 run, courtesy of six points from Uelmen and two from Natsvlishvili to go into the break down 47-36.

Out of half, following a made Blue Jays free throw, Curtis connected on a deep, straight-away triple, pulling UND within nine at 48-39.

From the 16:41 mark through the 8:15 point, UND trailed by 10-to-14 points, as the Hawks were down just 62-52 with 8:15 to play.

Natsvlishvili scored a layup off an assist from Anderson to make it 62-54 with 7:29 to play. The team then had a chance to get the game within two-scores as Uelmen came up with a steal on the next Blue Jays possession and got out in transition, but had his layup attempt blocked by Owen Freeman.

That led to Creighton going the other way, where Nik Graves was fouled by Anderson in the act of shooting. Graves went 1-for-2 from the stripe, and a Josh Dix layup to follow on the next possession gave the Blue Jays a 65-54 lead.

UND couldn’t get the game back in single digits the rest of the way, trailing by as many as 15 and falling 75-60.

North Dakota will resume play in a multiple-team event (MTE) at Western Illinois on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Coastal Carolina, which will be followed by a matchup with Western Illinois on Sunday at 6 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Postgame Notes

  • UND falls to 3-12 all-time against Creighton
  • Curtis led the way for UND with 14 points, giving him three consecutive double-digit point performances, averaging 16.0 points, shooting 8-for-12 from three during that stretch
  • Uelmen scored 13 points, good for his fourth straight game with 10 or more points
  • Uelmen is averaging 17.3 points per game over the last four contests
  • UND won the steals battle 7-6, headlined by a career-high of three from Uelmen and two from Eli King
  • North Dakota was outrebounded 50-30 and surrendered 21 offensive rebounds
  • NoDak had just eight turnovers compared to 11 from Creighton
  • The Hawks turned 11 Creighton turnovers into 11 points
  • The Green and White had 14 bench points, made up of eight points from Kraft and six from Anthony Smith lll
  • Kraft connected on 2-of-4 three-point attempts, putting him at 18-for-37 from three this season through six games
  • Natsvlishvili recorded his second career double-digit point outing, logging 10 points and seven rebounds
  • Karsen Ouse made his collegiate debut, totaling 7:31 of game play
  • UND shot 23-for-60 from the field, while Creighton shot 26-for-63
  • North Dakota went 6-for-18 from three (1-for-8 in the second half) and Creighton shot 8-of-38 (1-for-17 in the second half) from behind the arc

How It Happened
First Half
11:58 CU 20, UND 15
6:31 CU 32, UND 20
3:48 CU 41, UND 26
Halftime: CU 47, UND 36

Second Half
14:27 CU 53, UND 43
11:06 CU 59, UND 47
7:28 CU 62, UND 54
3:47 CU 71, UND 56
Final: CU 75, UND 60