Ohio St. steals 67-66 win from Nebraska on a last-second shot
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Marc Loving was so open when he caught C.J. Jackson's inbounds pass, there was only one thing for him to do.
''Easy,'' he said. ''Lay it in.''
Loving did just that after he took Jackson's pass from under the basket. The ball bounced on the rim before dropping through with less than a second to play, giving Ohio State a 67-66 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night.
Loving had moved freely into the lane after the man guarding him, Tai Webster, switched off him and Glynn Watson Jr., who was coming to defend, fell down.
''The basketball gods kind of looked out for us because the guy just fell and left Marc wide open,'' Jae'Sean Tate said. ''It was good patience by C.J. to read the defense because I think it was like 4 1/2 seconds before he got the 5-second call and threw it, and Marc did the rest. We got a little lucky.''
Nebraska coach Tim Miles said, ''When we lost our feet, well, then you're dead.''
Watson didn't come to the postgame interview room, but he tweeted, ''Worst feeling ever ... let my team down.''
Webster had driven for Nebraska's go-ahead layup with 35 seconds left, and Ohio State played for the last shot. Loving missed a 3-pointer, but JaQuan Lyle got the rebound under the basket, and the Buckeyes were able to call timeout with 1.9 seconds left to set up the winning play.
Loving had 15 points, and Lyle and Jae'Sean Tate added 13 apiece for the Buckeyes (12-7, 2-4 Big Ten), who have won two straight.
''About time something good happened for us,'' Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. ''C.J. made a tremendous read on the play, taking the ball inbounds, and did a tremendous job of being patient with it.''
The Buckeyes, who have won four straight over the Huskers, were turnover-free in the second half after committing 11 in the first while falling behind 40-32. They capitalized on Nebraska's awful shooting. The Huskers hit 50 percent from the field in the first half but just 29.2 percent in the second.
''Everybody is going to remember the last play, obviously, and deservingly so,'' Matta said. ''We weren't very good the first half, which was obvious. I talked about some things at halftime and told them we need to chip away. We really competed. Look, I could give 15 game balls away in that second half.''
Webster had 18 points to lead the Huskers (9-9, 3-3), who have lost three straight.
BIG PICTURE
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are building steam after an 0-4 start in Big Ten play. They came to Lincoln off a 72-67 win over Michigan State, and then overcame a bad first half to pick up a huge road victory.
Nebraska: The Huskers really needed to beat the Buckeyes to stay in contact with the Big Ten leaders. Three straight losses have wiped out what was their best start in conference play since 1975-76.
FREE-THROW WOES
Nebraska was 11 of 20 from the line, a continuation of its free-throw struggles. The Huskers were 15th nationally a month ago, making 78.3 percent. Since then they are shooting 63.2 percent from the line and rank 115th.
HE SAID IT
''Coming into the game, it's actually funny, Coach Matta said the magic number to beat them is 67. He's been saying that all week in practice. In the locker room, he kept that in our minds.'' - Tate.
DOUBLE FIGURES, AGAIN
Nebraska's Webster has scored in double figures in all 17 games this season and 18 straight dating back to last season.
UP NEXT
Ohio State: Plays at home Sunday against Northwestern. The Buckeyes have beaten the Wildcats 12 straight times since 2009.
Nebraska: Plays Saturday at Rutgers. The Huskers have won all three meetings since joining the Big Ten in 2011.
Wow!!! Buckeyes Win at Nebraska!!!
 |
Ohio State (12-7, 2-4) won its second-straight Big 10 game with a basket by Marc Loving with just .6 of a second left on the clock to claim a 67-66 win over Nebraska (9-9, 3-3) in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nebraska dominated the first half an earned a 40-32 lead at the intermission. The Cornhuskers led by as many as 12, but in the closing minutes of the half OSU was able to trim the lead to a manageable eight.
The second half was a far-different story. After committing 10 first-half turnovers the Buckeyes had zero give-aways in the second. They also cranked up their defense. Nebraska shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but was limited to just 29 percent in the second half.
The Buckeyes chipped away in the second half and eventually took a lead at 55-54. It was a lead that they managed to build to as many as four points, but as time ran down the Huskers made one last run.
With just 34 seconds remaining Nebraska's Michael Jacobson made a layup to put Nebraska on top 66-65. Loving missed a three-point attempt with 2 seconds on the clock but an offensive rebound by JaQuan Lyle gave OSU one more chance with just 1.9 second remaining.
After a time out the Buckeyes inbounded under their own basket and set up the Pickett Fence play. The play was designed to go to Kam Williams, but Williams was double teamed. Inbounder C.J. Jackson saw Loving when he broke to the basket and got him the ball for the game-winning layup with just .6 on the clock. Nebraska's full-court inbound pass was batted down and the Buckeyes claimed their second conference win of the season.
Loving registered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs. His 11 rebounds was also a game high. Lyle and Jae'Sean Tate each contributed 13 points, Trevor Thompson 10.
Nebraska was led by Tai Webster with a game-high 18 points. Evan Taylor and Michael Jacobson each added 11 and Glenn Watson Jr. scored 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment