Nebraska men’s basketball came up short Tuesday in a 116-114 double-overtime loss at Ohio State.
That makes four losses in a row for Nebraska, a team squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and three of those four came down to the final possession.
“This was a win we felt that we had to get, so it hurts like hell,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said during his postgame radio interview. “You have three games in a row now that have come down to a final possession. We got our best guy at the line. Not only is Brice a great free-throw shooter, he’s a clutch free-throw shooter. And unfortunately, his last one rolled out. But they didn’t hang their heads in the huddle. They kept going out and swinging and clawing and fighting and battling, and that’s what you need out of your team.”
The two senior leaders, Williams and Juwan Gary, played exceptionally well and met the moment. Williams finished the game with a single-game school record of 43 points, and Gary scored 24 points while chipping in seven rebounds.
It wasn’t the quick start that Nebraska has been searching for all season, particularly defensively. Ohio State started the game 5 of 7 from the field in the first four minutes and took an 11-point lead (19-8) early in the first half.
Howeve,r Nebraska did get off to a quick start in the second half to get back in the game after Ohio State had some momentum on a deep 3-pointer by freshman John Mobley Jr. at the buzzer to give the Buckeyes a 45-39 lead.
Nebraska kept fighting and used a 12-4 run in the second segment of the first half. Then Ohio State took another 11-point lead and Nebraska fought back with a 7-0 run thanks to Sam Hoiberg scoring five straight.
Yes, there was some horrendous officiating, but you have to find a way to overcome that, and Nebraska did that for the most part.
There was the Williams flagrant 1 foul that looked as though he was just simply boxing out. There were the two non-calls on actions that should have bee technical fouls on Ohio State, one for yelling in the opponent’s face after a block and another for slamming the ball on the floor that bounced higher than the basket.
With Nebraska down three with 3.2 seconds left in the second overtime, Mobley was in-bounding the ball on the sideline and looked to have clearly moved his feet beyond the allowable three-foot box, which would have given Nebraska the ball on its end of the floor.
“I didn’t like the flagrant on Brice,” Hoiberg said. “I thought it was an accidental play, and then they had two opportunities. They slammed the ball on the ground and it goes above the basket. No call. I don’t know. It bothers me. And running on the sideline I don’t think is allowed.”
To the Huskers credit, they fought through adversity, whether it was the slow start to the game, the foul trouble, the poor shooting in the first half, the missed free throws, or the officiating.
They showed some fight and toughness to come back and take the lead in the second half. At the same time, you have to find a way to get a win when you are leading by two possessions in overtime on the road.
Nebraska is now 4-38 all-time when allowing 100 or more points, and Ohio State is now 1-20 all-time when allowing 100 points.
Now, Sunday in Lincoln is the ultimate must-win game of the season for Nebraska to get into the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers will host Iowa at Pinnacle Bank Arena with tip set for 11:30 a.m. CT.
