The attitude and effort, Tim Miles said, wasn’t such a problem this time for his Nebraska men’s basketball team. But the result was still the same. Freshman forward Jae’Shawn Tate scored a career-high 22 points to lead four Ohio State players in double figures, and the Buckeyes shot 53.8 percent from the field in their 81-57 victory over Nebraska on Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio. Playing four days after a dismal 74-46 home loss to Iowa, after which Miles punished his players by banning them from their locker room at the Hendricks Training Complex because he felt they gave up, the Huskers came out with another lackluster start. Ohio State (20-8, 9-6 Big Ten Conference) began the game with a series of transition points, dunks and three-pointers to build an early 13-point lead, and Nebraska (13-15, 5-11) never recovered in losing its sixth straight game. “Before we’re even at the under-16 (timeout), I felt like I needed two timeouts,” Miles said. “You got to play from the front to win against these really good teams for a chance to win on the road, and we just didn’t do that at all.” Miles said his team competed and played hard, and didn’t show frustration, all reasons behind his locker room ban. Still, Ohio State blitzed Nebraska. The Buckeyes went ahead by 20 points in the first half, led 42-24 at halftime and built their margin to 27 in the game’s final minute. With the help of a 12-0 run, Ohio State jumped to a 19-6 lead, scoring nine points in transition, capitalizing off turnovers and creating momentum with three dunks. Nebraska scored six straight points to cut the deficit to 19-12, but Ohio State countered with back-to-back three-pointers, and then maintained a double-digit margin the remainder of the game. The Buckeyes began the game shooting 10-of-14, including 4-of-5 on three-pointers, and, at one point, made seven straight field goals. Ohio State became the second straight opponent to shoot at least 50 percent against Nebraska, after the Huskers had held 37 straight foes to under that average. Tate, ranked No. 4 all-time among Ohio State freshmen with a season field goal percentage at 58 percent entering the game, was 8-of-9 from the field. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State rolls over Huskers, 81-57
