Ohio State Outlasts Nebraska In Double-Overtime With 116-114 Victory

Ohio State came away with an improbable 116-114 double-overtime victory Tuesday night into Wednesday morning to further improve their NCAA tournament chances with one regular season game left. 

Despite squandering a late eight-point lead in regulation, nearly coming away with a last-second win in the final seconds of the first overtime and then falling behind by three early in the second extra period, the Buckeyes — desperately needing a win to keep their postseason hopes alive — buckled down and out willed Nebraska in the game’s final 4:43. 

They outscored the opponent 17-12 in that span due to a pair of clutch threes from Bruce Thornton and Micah Parrish and some strong team defense on Nebraska leading scorer Brice Williams to squeak out the much-needed victory. 

Ohio State came out of the gates aggressively with its playoff life on the line, and that mentality was led by its team leader Bruce Thornton, who scored seven early points to help the Buckeyes jump out to an early 19-8 lead. 

Nebraksa took advantage of some undisciplined OSU defense to gradually chip into the lead and find itself trailing 27-25 with 6:35 left after a layup by senior forward Juwan Gary. But a John Mobley Jr. three helped put things back in order, spurring an 11-5 run to go up 38-30 with 4:35 left. The Buckeyes then fended off some Husker runs at the end of the half to take a 45-39 lead at the half off a buzzer-beating three from Mobley. 

Both teams shot 16 of 28 (57.1 percent) from the field in the first half. 

Nebraska came out of the period firing with three quick threes from Gary and Huskers leading scorer Brice Wiliams to help give them its first lead of the game, 48-47, just 2:49 into the half. The lead flip-flopped over the next few minutes until OSU went on a 15-4 run to take back control and lead 66-55 with 11:29 left after a Devin Royal three-point play. 

The Huskers answered again with seven quick points to trail 66-62 with 8:51 left after a layup from junior guard Sam Hoiberg — the son of Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg — but a flagrant foul on Williams allowed OSU to push its lead back to eight with 8:02 left after a Thornton jumper. 

Nebraska kept coming at the Buckeyes with threes and layups over the ensuing minutes, but each time the home team had an answer. Thanks to a stretch that included five straight makes and four free throws, Ohio State’s lead didn’t drop lower than five points, with the Buckeyes leading 87-80 with 2:13 left. 

Nebraska scored five straight points to trail 87-85 with 1:23 left after a pair of Gary free throws, and after Sean Stewart split from the line, Nebraska tied it at 88 with 42 seconds left after a three-point play from Andrew Morgan. A Mobley drive on the other end allowed him to split a pair of free throws and lead 89-88, and it was followed with a split from the line by Williams to tie the game at 89. 

Ohio State had a shot to win the game with eight seconds left but a driving Thornton was trapped, forcing him to pass it to Parrish who could not get a shot off on time. 

Nebraska continued its upward climb in overtime by getting five quick points from Williams to lead 94-89, and it maintained that advantage across the next few possessions. OSU cut it to two after a Thornton three with 1:36, but it was answered by another Williams basket. The Buckeyes answered back with a Parrish three on the other end to trail 99-98, and after forcing a Nebraska turnover, they tied the game when Royal aggressively drove to the rim, got fouled and made one of its two free throws, forcing a second overtime. 

The second overtime started just like the first with a Williams three to put Nebraska up three, but the Buckeyes clawed back and got in the lead with an 8-1 run to go up 107-103 after a Thornton three-pointer. Nebraska, to no one’s surprise, answered on the other end with a three-point play of its own from senior guard Ahron Ulis, but it finally closed the door with a stepback three from Parrish to go up 110-106 with 43 seconds left. 

Ohio State then got two more defensive stops and six free throws in eight attempts to further ice the win. 

Ohio State, despite making just 32 of its 43 free throws, was led in the double-overtime win by Thornton, Mobley, Royal and Parrish, who scored 93 of OSU’s 116 points on a combined 29-of-57 shooting, Thornton leading the way with 29 points and a game-high nine assists. 

Nebraska was led in the loss by Williams, who had a school-record 43 points on 16-of-29 shots along with six rebounds and a pair of assists. Gary added 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds. 

Ohio State will have one last opportunity in the regular season to further boost its NCAA tournament resume on Sunday night when it travels to Bloomington, Ind., to take on Indiana in what will be a critical game for both Big Ten bubble teams. The game will tip off at 3:45 p.m. on CBS.