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Huskers pull out 58-57 comeback victory over Buckeyes

FINAL STATS

Time and again Nebraska found a way to rally back against Ohio State on Saturday, but the Huskers couldn’t ever seem to get over the hump.

Well, at least until they finally did so when it absolutely mattered the most.

After trailing by as many as 11 points early in the second half, Nebraska clawed its way back down the stretch and took its first lead since the opening minutes on an And-1 layup by sophomore guard Glynn Watson with just 11.3 seconds left to play.

Having already lost three games at the final second this season, the Huskers held their ground this time to pull out a huge 58-57 road victory and keep their postseason hopes alive for another game.

The win marked NU’s first ever at Ohio State and just its second victory over the Buckeyes in 12 tries since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2011.

"It's been the same thing with the guys all year," head coach Tim Miles said on his post-game radio show on the Husker Sports Network. "They just showed a lot of resolve and a lot of guts, just hanging around when things weren't going great. They didn't really demonstrate bad body language and didn't freak out on each other or anything like that.

"They just hung in there and hung in there."

Offense came at a premium early on to start the game, as Watson scored Nebraska’s first five points but the Huskers made just two of their first 12 shots from the field and fell behind 14-7 out of the gates.

Nebraska ended up going 4:30 without scoring a single point during one stretch, and as a result the Buckeyes slowly built up a 22-11 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.

Then things finally started to click for NU, as senior guard Tai Webster scored 11 of the Huskers next 17 points while Ohio State went scoreless for the final 5:39 to go into halftime with a 30-24 lead.

"I thought we missed a lot of shots," Miles said. "I thought we were really worked up early ... and Tai carried us."

An early 8-2 run to start the second half got the Huskers back to within five, but bad (and some questionable) fouls and poor offense allowed the Buckeyes to go back up by as many as nine with just over 12 minutes to play.

Once again, though, the Huskers were able to regroup and rally. This time they scored six straight to cut it to 43-40 with 10:24 minutes left, the closest they’d been since the 11:55 mark of the first half.

Two minutes later, sophomore forward Jack McVeigh tied it up at 43-43 with a 3-pointer from the corner.

Ohio State responded with an 11-4 run, as the Huskers made just one filed goal over the next five minutes.

Nebraska still had one last rally left, as a 3-pointer by Watson and a layup by McVeigh got Nebraska back to 54-52 with 1:19 left to play.

The Huskers then got a stop for chance to tie or take the lead inside of one minute, but Webster was called for traveling. The Buckeyes then looked to put the nail in the coffin on their ensuing possession when Marc Loving drained a 3-pointer to make it 57-52 with just 32.9 to go.

But McVeigh again answered with a three of his own to cut it to two, and then Webster and junior forward Nick Fuller forced a jump ball on the following inbounds pass to give possession back to Nebraska with 21.9 left.

"Glynn found me, and I knew I was going to shoot it no mater what," McVeigh told HSN. "I just said to myself, 'Hold the follow through.' I released it, and it felt good. It was a good shot."

Ohio State had fouls to give and fouled twice, but then Watson drove to the lane and finished a layup off the glass after contact to set up the go-ahead And-1. Watson sank the free throw to give the Huskers their first lead since the 15:58 mark in the first half.

"We just put Glynn in the middle of the floor with a ball screen and put three guys along the baseline, and just let the five of them figure it out," Miles said. "Glynn made a great play."

The Buckeyes called timeout with 8.0 on the clock, but confusion on their ensuing final possession led to a rushed last-second jumper by Jae’Sean Tate that was off the mark, sealing the victory for the Huskers.

Webster led NU with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Watson followed up with 14 points and five rebounds despite playing the majority of the second half with four fouls.

McVeigh, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored all 11 of his points after halftime, including three clutch 3-pointers down the stretch.

Tate led Ohio State with 14 points, but only scored three of those in the second half.

Nebraska will return to action on Thursday when it hits the road again to take on Michigan State for a 6 p.m. tip on ESPNU.

"Winning can do a lot of great things," Miles said. "The one thing it does is hopefully keeps the guys believing, because you need those shots of encouragement. We've been through some real difficult games this year that were just like this but didn't go our way, and it's good have one go our way. Let's go get a few more."

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