Brice Williams continued his recent surge with 24 points and 10 rebounds Sunday as Nebraska rallied to defeat Ohio State 79-71 in Lincoln, Neb.
Williams is averaging 25.5 points during Nebraska’s current four-game winning streak.
Juwan Gary added 19 points and Berke Buyuktuncel scored 15 for the Cornhuskers (16-8, 6-7 Big Ten), who outscored the Buckeyes 45-32 in the second half.
Micah Parrish led the Buckeyes (14-10, 6-7) with a career-high 30 points in his 158th game. His previous best was 22 at Purdue on Jan. 21.
John Mobley Jr. contributed 21 points, but Bruce Thornton, who averaged 18.8 points over the past five games entering Sunday, was held to nine. His lone point of the second half came on a free throw with 2:20 remaining.
Nebraska trailed by eight, 42-34, early in the second half but later ran off 11 unanswered points to cap a 13-2 run for a 55-48 lead. Andrew Morgan’s steal and bucket made it 50-48 and Williams followed with the next five points.
Mobley’s jumper started a rally that saw the Buckeyes pull to within 62-60 on his 3-pointer with 3:47 left. But a Rollie Worster triple and a contested layup by Williams extended the margin to 67-60 and Ohio State could not recover.
The Buckeyes came back to take a 39-34 halftime advantage after seeing the Cornhuskers surge to a 23-14 lead thanks to a 15-4 run.
Mobley’s 3-pointer made it 35-32 and Ohio State was able to stretch the lead when Nebraska failed to score over the final 2:36 of the first half.
Ohio State center Aaron Bradshaw played after missing the 73-70 win against Maryland on Thursday due to illness. He scored one point and grabbed four rebounds.
With his return, the Buckeyes were at their healthiest in weeks but that didn’t last.
First, Sean Stewart was subbed out at the 10:05 mark of the first half holding his head after trying to defend Gary. Just 29 seconds later, Devin Royal exited after rolling his right ankle.
Neither played the rest of the half but returned after the intermission.
–Field Level Media
