• Box Score: Ohio State 79, Nebraska 45
• Photo Showcase: NU men's basketball, Jan. 21
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LINCOLN — People in red stormed the court at the Devaney Center for the second straight game.
Unfortunately for Nebraska, it was the Ohio State basketball team overtaking the floor this time. And it started shortly after Saturday's opening tip, allowing the sixth-ranked Buckeyes to cruise to a 79-45 win.
A season-high crowd of 11,439 showed up hoping to see NU ride the momentum from Wednesday's home upset of No. 11 Indiana.
Instead, the fans began to flee with 12 minutes left, not wanting to witness what ended up as the worst home loss in at least 107 years.
Yes, you read that right. More than a century.
The 34-point margin was Nebraska's biggest thrashing in Lincoln at least since a 37-point loss in 1905 to Chicago Central. The Husker media guide doesn't indicate whether that game was home or away.
If Chicago Central was a road game, then it was the worst home loss in the school's 116-year history of the sport.
“I don't think we could play any worse,” junior forward Brandon Ubel said. “I don't think I've ever been on a team that has turned it over 27 times.”
Yes, 27 miscues — 10 more than in the past two games combined, and more than double Nebraska's number of made field goals (13).
Want more ugliness?
Nebraska's 29.5 percent shooting (13 of 44) was a season low. The 17.6 percent from 3-point range (3 of 17) was the second-worst of the season. And there were field-goal droughts of 7:48 and 8:04.
No Husker scored in double figures. Senior wing Toney McCray — recently playing some of the best basketball in his career — had more missed shots (8) and turnovers (7) than he had points (5) and rebounds (6).
Ubel's eight points and eight rebounds were the kindest numbers on the stat sheet.
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler called it “a very, very, very selfish exhibition of basketball, starting with myself not having this team ready.”
And he never saw it coming.
“I don't think you can have any sense of that,” Sadler said. “We had two really good days of practice. And the last four or five games, we've been playing good basketball. So I did not see this at all.”
Believe it or not, Ohio State coach Thad Matta was angry at his team at the first media timeout. Nebraska led 6-5.
“We challenged our guys,” Matta said. “I thought Nebraska was playing harder than us. They were quicker to the ball.”
Not after that.
From that timeout, Nebraska went nearly eight minutes without a field goal to fall behind 18-8. Another Husker field-goal drought of 8:04 helped Ohio State turn a 24-18 lead with 3:47 left in the first half to 45-23 early in the second half.
Ohio State (17-3, 5-2) got 15 points from guard William Buford and 14 each from forward Jared Sullinger and forward Deshaun Thomas.
Nebraska (10-9, 2-6) has just finished a stretch in which seven of its first eight Big Ten games were against teams currently in the Top 25 (five) or who were ranked earlier this month (two).
So did NU finally hit the wall?
“I don't know,” Sadler said. “I think they were so excited to play the game. I thought they had great energy. If anything, I hope that they just tried too hard.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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