Nebraska opened the game 0-for-16 from 3-point range on the road, shot just 34% from the field for the game, and wasn’t able to threaten Ohio State late in a 65-52 loss Wednesday night at Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes (17-9, 10-5 Big Ten) earned their sixth straight win at the expense of a Nebraska team that has lost nine of its last 12 games. The Huskers are now 16-11 on the year, and 6-10 in conference play thanks to seven road losses in nine trips.
Junior center Kate Cain led the Huskers with 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while sophomore guard Sam Haiby added 12 points. Sophomore wing Leigha Brown supplied nine off the bench, including NU's first three of the game to open the fourth quarter.
Trailing 53-33 heading into the final frame, Brown spark a 12-3 Nebraska spurt that included another 3 from Haiby—the only other triple Nebraska hit (2-for-20)— that cut OSU's lead to 11 with six minutes left. The Huskers had multiple possessions to trim the Buckeye lead to single digits thanks to a more-than-five-minute stretch of scoreless basketball from the home team.
But, fueled by a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double from Buckeye forward Dorka Juhasz, kept the lead north of 10 for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
The Huskers went back and forth in the first quarter—four lead changes, neither side led by more than one possession during the first 10 minutes—before five second-quarter turnovers helped make way to a 14-0 run from Ohio State that blew the game open.
Ohio State won the rebounding battle, shot 8-for-21 from beyond the arc, and committed fewer turnovers. The first meeting went to Ohio State as well, a 80-74 overtime game in which Nebraska was similarly cold from the field (2-for-10 in the overtime period, 33% from the field). But that one featured much better perimeter shooting from Nebraska and an emphasis on creating contact inside. Nebraska shot 26 free throws that day. On Wednesday night, the Huskers shot just nine.
Senior Day is next. Nebraska hosts Illinois (11-15, 2-13 Big Ten) Saturday at 2 p.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
