MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Omaha, NE

OMAHA, Neb. —

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the wait time at Mama's Pizza rarely exceeded an hour. Now, the owner said, it is not uncommon to wait 75 or 90 minutes for a pie.

Jeff Harwood wishes that were not the case. He has taken steps to make working at his restaurants more enticing. He increased base pay and closed on Tuesdays, so everyone has a common day off. While those measures did not solve his staff struggles, they have helped.

"We're definitely in better shape as far as employees go," said Harwood.

However, there are still struggles with turnover.

"In the old days, you could get people to work for a couple of years,” said Harwood. “Now they seem to get tired after a couple of months."

Minimum wage increases in Nebraska to $10.50 per hour this year. It will rise to $12 per hour next year and reach $15 by 2026. Harwood pays adults a base salary of $14, and he said they average about $5 an hour in tips. That has helped recruit cooks and servers but hurts on his hunt for managers.

"They don't really feel the need to want to take on the added responsibility or the added hours," said Harwood.

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Like Mama’s Pizza, restaurants across the state are scrambling to staff up.

"We all need help staffing,” said Nebraska Hospitality Association President Doug Daize. “And I know that, yes, funds will help, but you run out."

Daize believes Nebraska's historically high employment rates are keeping kitchens understaffed, even as nearly all pre-pandemic restaurant jobs have returned across the U.S. He said finding more eligible workers is the magic ingredient.

"I think we've rebounded as much as we can rebound. Right now, it's a matter of having more employees," said Daize. "I think we're a long ways away still from where we really, truly want to be."

At Mama's Pizza, the higher wages and inflation have impacted the bottom line. Harwood would like to see rules regarding 15-year-old workers relax, so they could stay an hour or two later.

“This year was the lowest profit we've had in a long time," said Harwood, who is hopeful 2023 will be better. “We want to make sure we can give good service."

A week off didn’t hurt the Creighton men’s basketball team in the NET rankings, but every other local college basketball program dropped slightly in the last week.

The NET rankings on the morning of Jan. 2:

The NCAA uses the NET as a tool to help determine the top teams for seeding and inclusion in the NCAA tournament. One part of the NET system breaks games down into four quadrants, with Quadrant 1 wins being the best and Quadrant 4 victories being the worst. NET rankings are to some degree affected by a team's opponents. UNO teams are almost always eventually destined to have lower NET rankings because of their peers in the Summit League, while Nebraska benefits from its higher-rated peers in the Big Ten.

Creighton’s men (8-6) are 2-3 in Quadrant 1. They beat two top-50 NET teams at a neutral site (Arkansas and Texas Tech). CU is 1-2 in Quadrant 2, 1-1 in Quadrant and 4-0 in Quadrant 4. CU was No. 34 last week.

Nebraska's men (8-6) are 1-4 in Quadrant 1 – the road win over Creighton – 1-2 in Quadrant 2 1-0 in Quadrant 3, and 5-0 in Quadrant 4. The only Quad 4 games left on NU’s schedule appear to be two games against Minnesota, although the Gophers’ NET may change by Jan. 7. NU was No. 76 last week.

Omaha’s men (4-10) are 0-9 in Quadrants 1, 2 and 3 combined, and 4-1 in Quadrant 4, with wins over Idaho, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern and Denver. UNO dropped 15 spots after home losses to Oral Roberts and UMKC.

The Bluejay women (9-4) are 4-3 in Quadrant 1 – wins over Nebraska and at South Dakota State, Villanova and DePaul – 2-1 in Quadrant 2, 1-0 in Quadrant 3 and 2-0 in Quadrant 4. CU dropped from No. 18 following a blowout loss to Connecticut but added a Quad 1 win by beating DePaul Saturday.

The Husker women (10-5) are 3-5 in Quadrant 1 – a home win over Kansas, a neutral site win against Mississippi State and a road win at Maryland – 2-0 in Quadrant 3 and 5-0 in Quadrant 4. Nebraska was No. 31 last week.

The Omaha women (6-7) are 0-3 in Quadrant 1 – losses to Nebraska, Creighton and Missouri – 2-2 in Quadrant 3 and 2-2 in Quadrant 4. The Mavericks’ wins over Peru State and College of Saint Mary are not recognized by the NET rankings.

Of the six teams, the Creighton and Nebraska women are projected safely into the NCAA Tournament. As of Dec. 27, the Bluejay and Husker women are projected as a 7 seed by ESPN.

As of Jan. 1, the CU men were projected as a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament according to Bracket Matrix, which makes an average based on dozens of projections. The Bracket Matrix compilation had Creighton as one of the last teams in the field, effectively, based on the number of brackets on which the team appeared. ESPN has the Bluejays as a No. 10 seed as of Dec. 27. Since the return of CU center Ryan Kalkbrenner, the Jays have won two straight games by double digits.

Neither the Nebraska men nor either of the UNO teams are projected into the NCAA tournament.

Big Ten women: 6 Indiana; 9 Ohio State; 16 Michigan; 17 Iowa; 28 Maryland; 29 Illinois; 30 Michigan State; 39 Nebraska; 43 Purdue; 60 Penn State; 95 Minnesota; 116 Northwestern; 135 Wisconsin; 209 Rutgers.

Big East women: 4 Connecticut; 18 Villanova; 27 Creighton; 41 Marquette; 44 St. John’s; 51 Seton Hall; 64 DePaul; 110 Georgetown; 146 Butler; 137 Providence; 190 Xavier.

Summit women: 59 South Dakota State; 143 North Dakota State; 162 North Dakota; 204 South Dakota; 210 Oral Roberts; 217 Saint Thomas; 270 Denver; 277 UNO; 301 Western Illinois; 329 UMKC

Big Ten men: 4 Purdue; 10 Ohio State; 19 Indiana; 20 Rutgers; 39 Illinois; 47 Wisconsin; 51 Maryland; 59 Penn State; 64 Northwestern; 65 Iowa; 68 Michigan State; 77 Nebraska; 82 Michigan; 243 Minnesota

Big East men: 2 Connecticut; 21 Xavier; 28 Marquette; 34 Creighton; 48 Providence; 69 Butler; 83 Seton Hall; 92 Villanova; 102 St. John’s; 197 DePaul; 242 Georgetown

Summit men: 43 Oral Roberts; 174 Saint Thomas; 194 South Dakota State; 231 UMKC; 238 Denver; 247 Western Illinois; 278 North Dakota State; 287 Omaha; 293 South Dakota; 311 North Dakota

The Seton Hall Pirates (8-7, 1-3 Big East) meet the Creighton Bluejays (8-6, 2-1) Tuesdayat CHI Health Center Omaha. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET (FS1). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Seton Hall vs. Creighton odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.

The Pirates sunk St. John’s last time out at home, winning 88-66 to easily cover a 3.5-point spread and snapping an 0-3 SU record to kick off conference play. The Over is 3-0-1 in the past 4 games for the Pirates.

The Bluejays were in freefall from Nov. 23 to Dec.16, losing 6 straight games after opening the season 6-0 with a ranking in the Coaches Poll. After losing the conference opener at Marquette, Creighton has rebounded with back-to-back wins against Butler (78-56, Dec. 22) and DePaul (80-65, Dec. 25) to snap back on track.

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Seton Hall at Creighton odds

Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:38 a.m. ET.

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Seton Hall at Creighton picks and predictions

Creighton 68, Seton Hall 66

There was no moneyline at the time of publishing, but it wouldn’t be worth pursuing anyway.

PASS.

SETON HALL +8.5 (-105) is worth a look catching more than 4 buckets.

The Pirates have cashed in 8 of the past 11 games on the road while going 7-3 ATS in the past 10 on the road against teams with a winning home record.

Creighton has covered just once in the past 6 games overall. Look to the Pirates to keep the Bluejays down, at least against the number.

UNDER 137.5 (-115) is a strong play.

The Under is 14-5-1 in the past 20 games on the road for Seton Hall, while cashing at a 4-1 clip in the past 5 games against teams with a winning record.

The Under is 21-10-1 in the past 32 home games for Creighton while going 5-2-1 in the past 8 games overall. The Under is also 4-1 in the past 5 against teams with an overall winning record.

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Aaliyah Stanley scored early and often in the previous UNO women's game. Emphasis is on the word often.

The 5-foot-6 senior guard accounted for 21 of the Mavs' 32 first-half points when they played at UMKC last Saturday. She scored all 34 of her points through three quarters as the Mavs went on to a 75-64 win. Only once since 2007 has a Maverick women's player scored at least 35 points in a game.

It was a breakout performance for Stanley, who had scored in single digits in each of the previous six games. She went 12 of 17 from the field, driving to the rim to convert most of those field goals.

"I had a different mindset coming into the game, I wanted to make things simple," Stanley said this week. "I told myself I was going to push it in transition."

That game upped Stanley's season scoring average from 9.6 to 11.5 per game. It was the first time Stanley, who transferred from Florida Gulf Coast in the offseason, had scored more than 25 in a college game. But she has shown the ability to score in bunches.

"She's a special player," UNO coach Carrie Banks said. "Some of (her offensive woes) is she's new to Omaha and what we're asking her to do. I think it's nice to have a game like that where it shows she's getting settled within the offense and comfortable and knowing where and when she can score. The biggest thing is her knowing her spots, when to attack."

With Stanley in the lineup, UNO has been able to play with a faster tempo. Banks felt creating transition baskets would be essential after the Mavs averaged 57.2 points per game last season. This season with a guard-oriented lineup, that average is 66.2.

Last Thursday at Oral Roberts, Stanley struggled to a 1-of-10 night from the field. But she still created offense by drawing fouls as she was 7 of 8 from the foul line. As a team, UNO is shooting 79.9% on free throws, which ranks third in the NCAA.

"When she starts trying to do too much, I don't think it has worked out," Banks said. "She just needs to keep it simple and let the game come to her."

UNO is 1-1 in Summit League play, but the Mavs are looking forward to January when it plays six of its eight games at Baxter Arena. That stretch begins with Western Illinois at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. UNO is 4-1 at home, with its only loss coming against No. 25 Creighton.

"Our kids have played really, really well at home," Banks said. "Something about playing in a familiar place, obviously Baxter's such a fun place to play. I'm hoping that continues to be our sweet spot."

UNO men - The Mavs will play at Western Illinois on Thursday and St. Thomas on Saturday as they look to snap a two-game losing streak.

Western Illinois had won six in a row prior to losing two road games last week. Four Leatherneck starters average in double figures and they feature one of the Summit's best all-around players in guard Trenton Massner, who's averaging 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

Luke Jungers, who missed most of last Saturday's game with an ankle injury, was back at practice this week and should be available for the Mavs.

Nothing really changed from Class A’s two holiday tournaments.

Bellevue West is a cut above. The rest of the contenders are in a close pack, each hoping to win enough close games and hoping if it gets to state that it’s either the No. 2, No. 3, No. 6 or No. 7 seed and away from the Thunderbirds until the championship game.

Omaha Creighton Prep and Lincoln High gained the most from the Metro and Heartland tournaments.

Prep reached the Metro finals, bumping Gretna and Millard North from the undefeated ranks, and played the best defense on Bellevue West of any team in the first month before falling 66-44 Monday night. Because the Junior Jays reversed one of its first three losses with their 62-61 win over Gretna, they return to the rankings at No. 2.

Lincoln High won the Heartland for the first time since 2014-15. It reversed its only loss, beating Kearney in the tournament opener, then took 3-point decisions from Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln Southeast to improve to 8-1. The Links, however, remain sat No. 6.

Depending on the viewpoint, the rest of the Links’ schedule is, one, conducive to building a record; and two, not prone to ratings enhancement. They play none of the top five — Bellevue West, Prep, Gretna, Millard North and Omaha Westside — and of their five remaining games against Metro teams, only Omaha Bryan at No. 8 and Omaha Central at No. 10 are ranked this week.

Class B is down to two unbeatens, No. 1 Omaha Skutt and No. 2 Platteview. They cannot meet until state at the earliest. Beyond those two is a field much in the same situation as those in Class A, facing a lot of close games. Skutt’s closest win is by nine. Platteview had a pair of 53-51 wins back-to-back in December, against No. 8 Beatrice and unranked Blair. The Trojans picked up their second win on Beatrice much easier, winning 69-53.

Class C-1 seems to be the deepest of the six classes. No. 1 Ashland-Greenwood, No. 2 Ogallala and No. 3 Pierce won holiday tournaments. So did No. 4 Wahoo, No. 6 Central City, No. 7 Aurora, No. 8 Lincoln Lutheran, No. 9 Omaha Concordia and No. 10 Boone Central.

Ashland won at Wahoo, the preseason favorite, 52-49 on Dec. 20. Monday night, it defeated No. 5 Auburn 55-36 in a rematch of last year’s state final. The Jays visit Platteview next Tuesday and will see Pierce Feb. 11 in the Heartland Hoops Classic in Grand Island.

Ogallala’s highest ranked opponent remaining is Class B No. 6 McCook (6-1), which the Indians host on Feb. 3.

Class C-2 has three unbeatens remaining — No. 1 Freeman, No. 2 Doniphan-Trumbull and No. 10 Summerland. Hartington Cedar Catholic, Amherst and Norfolk Catholic round out a strong top five.

No. 1 Maywood-Hayes Center and No. 10 Leyton are the last unbeatens in Class D-1. In D-2, No. 2 Wynot is the only unbeaten. Defending champion Lincoln Parkview stays at No. 1, for its loss was to Class B’s South Sioux City.

Show me a better available option than using Bellevue West as the anchor for the Holiday tournament.

Some grousing has been heard about using a high school gym, i.e, home-court advantage, which never happened until the 2020-21 tournament went to Creighton Prep during the pandemic. The “Bellevue West Invitational,” one of my friends called it, after the Thunderbirds’ sweep of the titles (the school’s first since 2004-05). And the school is in the southeast corner of the conference’s footprint.

Given that Bellevue West’s 3,100 seats were filled for the boys final, and another 800 to 1,000 spectators left after the Millard South-Bellevue West girls final, imagine the crunch if it had been the Chucky Hepburn/Hunter Sallis, Bellevue West/Millard North final two years ago at Prep. And if there had been four schools involved in the doubleheader instead of three.

Evidently the available arenas have priced themselves out of league consideration. Metro officials told me last year’s tournament at Baxter Arena netted $2,000, far from what they were expecting. Liberty First Arena in Ralston is said to have high rental rates. Creighton has Sokol Arena, but it’s smaller than Bellevue West or Prep.

Maybe there’s a business that would like to be the tournament’s title sponsor, thus paying arena rental. Otherwise, nowhere else but Bellevue West has the seating and the parking — it could use an additional entrance and concessions areas (how about selling slices of pizza?) — that are needed.?

Class A: Thursday: Bellevue West at Council Bluffs Lincoln, Omaha Creighton Prep at Papillion-La Vista South, Gretna at Elkhorn South, Lincoln High at Lincoln North Star. Friday: Lincoln Southeast at Lincoln Southwest, Omaha Bryan at Bellevue West. Saturday: Omaha Central at Gretna, Lincoln Southwest at Lincoln High, Lincoln Northeast at Lincoln Southeast, Omaha Westside at Millard North.

Class B: Thursday: Seward at Beatrice. Friday: Omaha Roncalli at Omaha Skutt, Bennington at Platteview, Scottsbluff at Waverly. Saturday: Scottsbluff at Crete, McCook at Sidney.

Class C-1: Thursday: Friday: Lincoln Lutheran at Omaha Concordia. Friday: Columbus Scotus at Malcolm. Saturday: Boone Central at Wayne.

Class C-2: Thursday: Laurel-Concord-Coleridge at Hartington Cedar Catholic, Friday: West Holt at Summerland. Saturday: Doniphan-Trumbull at Grand Island Central Catholic, Tri County at Freeman, Elkhorn Valley at West Holt.

Class D-1: Thursday: Amherst at Ansley-Litchfield. Friday: Dundy County-Stratton at Alliance, Humphrey St. Francis at Howells-Dodge, Maywood-Hayes Center at Paxton, Mead at Yutan.

Class D-2: Thursday: Lincoln Parkview at Omaha Nation.