Ohio State grabs a Leap Day victory over Nebraska, 78-69; keeps tourney hopes alive

Still riding the high of beating Michigan State Sunday afternoon, Ohio State (17-12, 7-11) aka the fighting Jake Dieblers welcomed the Nebraska Cornhuskers (20-1, 10-8) to the Schottenstein Center Thursday evening. Nebraska beat Ohio State 83-69 back on Jan. 23 and traveled to Columbus Thursday in search of a season sweep.

The Buckeyes are hot (warm?), but Nebraska came into this game even hotter, having won its last four games, including a road win at Indiana and an 18-point win over Minnesota at home. The ‘Huskers have officially put themselves in a position to earn a top-four seed and the coveted double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

Fred Hoiberg’s ‘Huskers went with a starting five of Kesei Tominaga, Brice Williams, Juwan Gary, Rienk Mast, and Josiah Allick.

With Bruce Thornton ruled out shortly before the game with a migraine, senior guard Dale Bonner started in his place. Alongside him were Roddy Gayle, Jamison Battle, Evan Mahaffey, and Felix Okpara. This was the first game that Thornton had ever missed in his two seasons.

Without Thornton on the floor, Ohio State turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions, but Battle followed that with eight consecutive points to put the Buckeyes up 8-3. Nebraska answered with a triple from Williams to make it 8-6, but Battle hit another three, followed by a euro-step layup from Gayle to make it 13-6 Ohio State at the first media timeout.

The Huskers answered with a 13-2 run and took a 19-15 lead into the under-12 media timeout with 11:14 remaining in the first half. Nebraska knocked down four three-pointers in the first nine minutes of the game.

Nebraska extended the lead a bit while facing the rarely-used Bowen Hardman/Devin Royal/Taison Chatman/Felix Okpara/Jamison Battle lineup, and held a 25-20 lead with 7:38 remaining in the first half. With no Thornton, Ohio State struggled with turnovers, as five different guys coughed up the biscuit at least once through the first 12 minutes.

After the Nebraska lead grew to seven points late in the first half, the Buckeyes ended the half on a 12-3 run, taking a 39-37 lead into the locker room at halftime. Battle and Gayle did the heavy lifting, scoring 26 of Ohio State’s 39 points in the first half. Scotty Middleton also chipped in two big-time three-pointers when it looked like things might go off the rails for Ohio State. Tominaga had nine first-half points for Nebraska, but five different ‘Huskers chipped in at least four points over the first 20 minutes.

The Buckeyes held Nebraska to one basket over the first 4:41 of the second half, increasing the lead to 46-37 before Gary scored off a nice dish from Lawrence to make it 46-39 with 15:19 left in the game. Gayle continued to penetrate and get to the bucket, and Okpara was a big deterrent below the basket in the second half, forcing several Nebraska misses on layups.

Lawrence strung together some big buckets for Nebraska and kept them within one or two possessions for most of the second half. Ohio State’s 12th turnover of the game with 7:41 left game gave the ball back to Nebraska and sent this one to the under-8 media timeout with the Buckeyes up, 63-58.

Ohio State led for essentially the entire second half, bending but not breaking defensively and keeping Nebraska just barely out of reach. It seemed like every time the ‘Huskers came up with a basket to turn the tide, the Buckeyes had an answer at the other end to prevent it from becoming a run. Fred Hoiberg’s team showed why they’re tournament-caliber, but Ohio State was able to fend them off and salvage the season split, 78-69.

If you weren’t around tonight to see Ohio State improve to 3-1 under Jake Diebler and keep its slim NCAA hopes alive, here are a few key moments and plays that happened along the way:

Battle scores 11 in 1:51 to put Ohio State back in front

Nebraska grabbed two offensive rebounds on their first possession of the game before Tominaga finally knocked down a three-pointer to open the scoring, but Battle — who missed the Michigan State game with an ankle injury — went on an 11-3 run all by himself to help put Ohio State up, 11-6 four minutes into the game.

Nebraska responds with a 15-2 run

After Battle went bananas to start the game, Nebraska went to work and authored a 15-2 run to put the fans back in their seats and quiet the arena down. The ‘Huskers got baskets from five different guys during the run — Wilcher, Allick, Gary, Jamarques Lawrence, Sam Hoiberg — which lasted 3:54. Gary’s uncontested layup with 11:03 left in the first half put Nebraska up, 21-15.

‘Huskers go cold, Buckeyes go into half with two-point lead

Nebraska went up 34-27 with just under five minutes left in the first half and did not score another basket the rest of the half. Other than three free throws from Tominaga (two different trips), Hoiberg’s team was held scoreless for the final 4:47 of the half.

Ohio State, on the other hand, hit three of its final six shots and knocked down five free throws, ending the half on a 12-3 run to go into the locker room with a 39-37 lead.

Freshmen showing up for Ohio State

Royal’s stock has been steadily rising over the last few weeks, but Middleton and Chatman have contributed more as “fillers” than anything else over the past few weeks — playing minutes here and there, but not making a huge impact. That was not the case on Thursday night, as Middleton’s third three-pointer of the game set a career-high with 12:47 left in the game. Chatman also knocked down a first-half three-pointer — the first of his collegiate career.

Gary gets Nebraska within two

With Ohio State leading 67-63 and 4:49 left in the game, Lawrence dished off to Gary on the break, and the 6-foot-6 junior from Columbia, South Carolina slammed home an easy dunk to make it 67-65.

Battle’s free throws make it 75-67

Moments after Gayle left the game with an injury, Battle was fouled by Mast going to the basket and knocked down both free throws, making it 75-67 with two minutes left to go.

Up Next:

Ohio State (17-12, 7-11) gets two days off and then welcomes the Michigan Wolverines (8-0, 3-14) to the Schottenstein Center on Sunday for Senior Day and the final home game of the season. Michigan beat Ohio State 73-65 back on January 15 in Ann Arbor — one of Michigan’s three conference wins.

Sunday’s game between Ohio State and Michigan will tip off at 4:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS.