Huskers Top Buckeyes, 79-71
Huskers.com
Lincoln, Neb. – Behind a double-double from
Brice Williams, Nebraska won its fourth straight with a 79-71 win over Ohio State Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers (16-8, 6-7 Big Ten) overcome an eight-point second-half deficit, out-scoring Ohio State, 45-32 in the final 20 minutes.
Williams led three Huskers in double figures with 24 points and a season-high 10 rebounds, as he posted his first double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
Juwan Gary (19) and
Berke Büyüktuncel (15) also finished in double figures, as Nebraska shot 51.9 percent from the field and had 15 assists to just 10 turnovers.
Gary scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half after sitting most of the first half with foul trouble, while Büyüktuncel hit a trio of 3-pointers grabbed six boards and dished out three assists in his best performance of the season.
Nebraska trailed 42-34 in the opening minutes of the second half before the Huskers responded with an 8-0 run to get the Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd on their feet. Gary scored NU’s first five points before Büyüktuncel’s 3-pointer knotted the score at 42-all with just over 17 minutes left.
The Huskers would take control with an 11-0 run, turning a 48-44 deficit into a 55-48 lead on Williams’ 3-point play, the last of five straight points by the senior. The run was sparked by a pair of hustle plays, a putback from
Connor Essegian to tie the game before
Andrew Morgan’s diving steal and eventual basket gave NU a 52-50 lead it would not relinquish.
Ohio State (14-10, 6-7 Big Ten) would come right back, using an 8-2 run of their own to pull within 58-56 after 3-pointers from Micah Parrish and John Mobley Jr with 6:25 remaining.
Leading 62-60, a 3-pointer from
Rollie Worster off a timeout, and a Williams jumper on the next possession extended the Husker lead to seven, at 67-60, with 2:28 left. From there, the Huskers held on, going 6-of-6 from the line and using a pair of Gary dunks off the press to stretch the lead to 11 before closing out the eight-point win.
Nebraska went 18-of-21 from the foul line, including 15-of-17 in the second half.
Parish led Ohio State with 30 points, including five 3-pointers, while Mobley Jr. added 21, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. NU limited Brice Thronton to just nine points in 39 minutes after he had 31 points in OSU’s comeback against Maryland on Thursday. ‘
In the first half Nebraska trailed 10-8 before battling back with a 13-2 spurt to build a 21-12 lead after a Williams basketball at the 12:23 mark. Williams had six of his 13 first-half points in the run.
The Buckeyes carried behind Parrish, who scored eight straight OSU points, including a 3-point play that pulled OSU to within 25-20. Nebraska eventually led 27-20, but OSU used a 7-0 spurt to take a 32-29 lead on a Mobley jumper. NU, which had four players pick up a pair of first half fouls, stayed close by getting a major contribution from
Braxton Meah, as the senior scored all five of his points to pull NU within 36-34, with 2:36 left in the half.
NU, which shot 52 percent in the first half, cooled off after a hot start and had just one field goal in the final seven minutes and went to the locker room trailing 39-34 before mounting a second-half comeback for the second straight game.
Nebraska will host No. 18 Maryland this Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and available with audio coverage from the Husker Radio Network. Tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets.
