Battle, free throws doom Nebraska in 78-69 loss at Ohio State
In a game that would have all but sealed an NCAA Tournament berth, Nebraska’s hot streak finally cooled off Thursday night at Ohio State.
Jamison Battle dropped 32 points, and the Buckeyes went a whopping 24 of 28 on free throws, as NU’s four-game winning streak came to a halt in a 78-69 road defeat.
Trailing by nine early in the second half, Nebraska (20-9, 10-8) pulled within 69-67 on a pair of Juwan Gary free throws with 3:52 remaining. But the Huskers scored two points the rest of the way, and OSU slammed the door with a 9-2 run to finish.
Jamarques Lawrence and Rienk Mast led NU with 14 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 21-9 foul discrepancy and 20 fewer attempts at the charity stripe.
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A game of runs early
Battle hit his first three 3-pointers and scored 11 of Ohio State’s first 13 points, helping build a 13-6 lead out of the gate. But Nebraska fired back with a 15-2 run of its own and eventually built a 34-27 lead on a three by Keisei Tominaga.
The tide would turn again from there, though, as Nebraska didn’t make a field goal and managed just three points of the final 4:47 of the half. The Buckeyes capitalized by closing on a 9-2 run and taking a 39-37 lead into the break.
Battle scored 17 of his 32 points in the first half, as OSU went 11 of 12 at the free-throw line. Tominaga had all nine of his points, and NU shot 43.8% at the midway point.
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Nebraska couldn’t get over the hump down the stretch
As much as Nebraska cooled off after a red-hot last four games, it stayed within reach through most of the second half.
After Ohio State pushed its lead back up to 55-47 with 12 minutes left, the Huskers clawed back behind 10 straight points from Mast. A dunk and two free throws by Gary had NU within 69-67 with 3:52 still to play.
But Nebraska would score just two more points from there, and those came on a meaningless layup by Sam Hoiberg in the final seconds.
The Buckeyes made 13 of 16 free throws in the second half, with Battle and Devin Royal going a perfect 11 for 11.
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