Ohio State’s road woes continued as a hot shooting Nebraska team, who plays extremely well at home, did so again on this night, sending Ohio State down to their 13th consecutive road loss, pulling away in the second half to defeat the Buckeyes 83-69. Ohio State built a lead as large as 9 midway through the first half, but watched the lead evaporate in a hurry as Nebraska outscored the Buckeyes 31-13 the rest of the half to take a lead they would not relinquish to come away with the win in Lincoln. The Buckeyes closed to within 4 early in the first half, but lights out three point shooting, 70% from long range in the second half, put the Buckeyes away as Nebraska built a lead as large as 18 to cruise to victory. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with 16 points and 6 assists, while Roddy Gayle and Bowen Hardman added 11 each. 6’10” Rienk Mast, proved to be a matchup nightmare, scoring a career high 34, that included 6 of 8 from long range to go along with 10 rebounds to lead Nebraska. C.J. Wilcher scored 16 and Brice Williams added 14 in the win.

Both teams got off to quick starts offensively. Ohio State got on the board first when Roddy Gayle hit a runner high off the window. After a Husker hoop, Jamison Battle buried a three from the right corner. Nebraska answered, scoring off a hard dribble drive, but back to back Evan Mahaffey buckets put the Buckeyes up 9-4. A Nebraska three capped the scoring flurry and at the first media timeout, Ohio State held a 9-7 lead. Out of the timeout, Nebraska took their first lead with a triple, but the Buckeyes quickly went back in front when Bruce Thornton hit a floater right of the paint. Nebraska evened the score, splitting a pair of free throws, but a pair of Zed Key freebies on the other end broke the tie and put the Buckeyes back in front. A quick Nebraska runner dropped to re-tie the score, but a pair of Mahaffey dimes, the first to Key on the right block put Ohio State back in front, and the second to Thornton on the right wing for 3 extended the lead. The Buckeye run continued when Battle tipped in his own miss forcing Nebraska to call a timeout with the Buckeyes leading 20-13 as Ohio State had scored 8 straight. A pair of Thornton free throws put the Buckeyes up 9, but an 8-0 Cornhusker run trimmed the lead to 1. Mahaffey’s skip pass to the left corner found Gayle, who buried a long jumper to end the run, but back came the Huskers, hitting a short jumper to answer and at the under 8 media timeout, Ohio State led 24-23. Out of the timeout, Mahaffey got to the rim for two and after a Husker miss, Okapara took a Thornton lob and finished with a dunk. A Nebraska three preceded another Thornton assist to Okpara for a dunk and the Buckeyes led by 4. Back to back Nebraska three’s put the Huskers back in front and at the final media timeout of the first half, Nebraska led 32-30. Thornton went to the stripe out of the timeout and buried both to tie the score, but Nebraska broke the tie with a pair of their own. Dale Bonner was hit attempting a three from the right corner where he missed all 3 and Nebraska made them pay with a three on the other end to put the Huskers up 5. After a Buckeye miss, the Huskers went to work again, scoring at the rim to cap a 7-0 run that ended when Key split a pair of free throws. The lead grew to 8 when Nebraska hit a pair of freebies. Thornton got to the rim off the bounce and scored to cut into the lead, but a rebound and put back just before the horn gave Nebraska a 43-35 lead at the break. Ohio State shot 45% from the floor, hitting 2 of 8 from long range, while Nebraska made just 44%, but 7 3’s in 17 attempts. The Buckeyes did the majority of their damage in the paint, out scoring Nebraska 18-10 inside, but the scoreboard was all Nebraska. Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 11 first half points and Nebraska’s 6’10” big man Rienk Mast led the Huskers with 13, including 3 of 4 from deep.

Nebraska’s lead increased to 10 with a bucket on their first possession of the second half, but a Thornton triple cut the lead back to 7. He was fouled as he knocked down the shot but a free throw attempt clanked off target attempting to make it a four point play. After a Nebraska turnover, Battle buried a three to trim the lead to 4. After the Huskers split a pair of free throws, Key took a Gayle pass and scored off the glass and at the under 16 media timeout, Nebraska led 46-43. Nebraska hit a pair of triples following the timeout to increase the lead to 9, but a Thornton pull up in the lane stopped the bleeding. After a defensive stop, Bonner hit a pull up 13 footer to cut the lead to 5, but Nebraska went on a 6-0 thanks to a pair of three’s forcing Ohio State to call a timeout with 12 minutes to go and the Cornhuskers leading 57-47. The run went to 10, giving Nebraska their largest lead before Thornton lobbed to Gayle for a dunk. Another pair of three’s for Nebraska increased the lead to 16. Gayle found Okpara for a dunk and the Buckeyes took a timeout with 8:41 to play and Nebraska leading 65-51. Nebraska scored again on a tip in and after the under 8 media timeout, Nebraska increased the lead to 18. Mahaffey scored at the rim, but another Nebraska bucket answered. A Battle triple trimmed the deficit to 15 but Nebraska answered with yet another three. A Bowen Hardman triple cut into the lead, and after another Husker bucket at the rim, Hardman hit another triple and Ohio State took a quick timeout, but with just 3:44 to play and Nebraska holding a 76-62 lead, it was too little, too late. Hardman scored off a dribble drive to cut the lead to 12, but a Husker bucket off a baseline inbounds pass answered. Key found Middleton for a dunk with 2 minutes to play, but a Nebraska three answered again. AHusker bucket and another Hardman triple finished off the scoring with Nebraska walking off the floor with the win.

There’s not much you can do when a team makes just about everything they put up from beyond the arc and Nebraska caught fire late in the first half and after Ohio State cut the deficit to 4 early in the second half, seemingly trip after trip, Nebraska was hitting a three and answering every time the Buckeyes tried to make a run. Shooting 70% from three for a half is almost unheard of but despite that, Ohio State needs to be tougher in those situations and do a much better job being physical on the perimeter. It wasn’t just the perimeter however, Ohio State was outrebounded 35-28 and had just 6 offensive rebounds, which is just unacceptable for this basketball team to be successful. For much of this game, Nebraska was the aggressor on both ends and to win on the road, that cannot happen. If Ohio State wants to turn this around, they need to play with a level of toughness that was not on display for much of the game tonight. While there is still time to get things right, it won’t get any easier so they better make the adjustments right now. If Ohio State wants to string some wins together, the time is now.

The Buckeye two game road swing concludes on Saturday in Evanston, IL taking on Northwestern in a 8:30 PM tip and airing on BTN.

-Jason Harris

Photo Credit: Huskers.com