The Ohio State basketball team was looking to solidify their NCAA Tournament resume on Sunday afternoon. Coming off a big win against Maryland, they were hoping to get another Quad I victory. The Buckeyes took on Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are a bubble team.
Being a bubble team led Nebraska to play with a lot more urgency. Ohio State wasn't able to match that urgency, especially in the second half. The Buckeyes carried a five-point lead into halftime but weren't able to hold onto it. Their defense fell apart, and they just started fouling.
In the end, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost to Nebraska 79-71. This happened despite the fact that they had a career-best effort from Micah Parrish. Parrish was the only source of offense for a lot of the game, dropping 30 points. Ohio State wasted it with poor defense.
The Ohio State basketball team loses to Nebraska on the road
Bruce Thornton was non-existent in the second half. He scored just a single point against the Cornhuskers. He wasn't nearly as aggressive as he needed to be on offense. The main problem for Ohio State was their lack of defense. They didn't move their feet well and just resorted to fouling instead.
Nebraska shot 21 free throws in this game, which is way too many. Had the Buckeyes played better defense, perhaps they could have forced Nebraska to earn their points the hard way. Instead, the Cornhuskers got 18 free points from the line because of their solid free-throw shooting.
The difference at the free-throw line was the big key to this game. Ohio State shot just 15 free throws and made only nine. Their poor free throw shooting and poor defense are the reasons they weren't able to get the win.
Instead of building upon a really good win against the Terrapins, the Buckeyes are returning to Columbus with a disappointing loss. They can't afford too many losses coming down the stretch if they want to make sure that they are in the NCAA Tournament. A win in this game certainly would have helped that.