Nebrasketball’s Bubble Gets Popped in Double Overtime at Ohio State
Nebraska men’s basketball went into Columbus, played two overtimes, and fell to Ohio State 116-114 Tuesday night. The Huskers fall to 17-13 on the year and 7-12 in the Big Ten Conference while the Buckeyes improve to 17-13 overall and 9-10 in the league.
Both teams were squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, with Nebraska likely seeing those hopes of a return to March Madness gone. The Huskers have lost their last four games.
Once again, Nebraska got off to a slow start. The Huskers made just four shots in the first eight minutes as Ohio State built a 12- point lead. The difference was back to just six points at the half.
The Buckeyes built a double-digit lead again in the second half, only to see the Huskers chip away at it in the closing minutes.
Down by three points in the final minute, Andrew Morgan completed an and-1 to tie the game with 42 seconds to play. Ohio State got fouled with 16 seconds left and went to the line, making just 1-of-2 free throws.
On the other end, Brice Williams got fouled on the shot with eight seconds to play. However, Williams also made just one at the line.
After Ohio State failed to get a shot off, the game went to overtime.
In the first overtime, Williams got Nebraska out to a five-point lead. The Huskers led until the final 10 seconds, where a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Ohio State tied the game and sent the contest to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, Williams hit a 3 on the opening possession. A minute later, Ohio State used a 7-0 run take a lead that would never be relinguished.
Williams hit a 3 at the buzzer to get him to 43 points on the night, breaking the program record for points in a game set by Eric Piatkowski (42) against Oklahoma in the 1994 Big Eight Tournament.
The Huskers shot 53.2% for the game, including 12-of-28 3s. The Buckeyes made 52.9% of their shots, making 12-of-32 from deep.
Nebraska returns to Lincoln to close out the regular season with Senior Day against Iowa on Sunday. Tip from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 11:30 a.m. CDT on FOX.