Without Bruce Thornton, emotional Jamison Battle leads Ohio State past Nebraska
Jamison Battle had the look of a man who believes his goals are still possible.
A Minnesota transfer who joined Ohio State in large part because he believed the Buckeyes would give him a shot at his only March Madness appearance, Battle had to sit and watch Sunday’s thriller at Michigan State. Thursday night against another projected NCAA Tournament team in Nebraska, Battle made up for lost time and stoked the slightly simmering hopes of a Cinderella run to the postseason.
Playing without Bruce Thornton, who missed the game with a migraine, Battle scored a season-high 32 points to lead Ohio State past Nebraska, 78-69, inside Value City Arena.
Ohio State (17-12, 7-11 Big Ten) has now won consecutive games for the first time since it won four straight from Dec. 16-Jan. 3. The win snaps a program record three-game losing streak to the Cornhuskers (20-9, 10-8) and drops Nebraska to 1-8 in road Big Ten games this year.
The win is Ohio State’s third in its last four games, all under interim coach Jake Diebler, and also keeps alive its hopes of avoiding the opening day of the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes will host Michigan on Sunday for senior day.
After trailing by as many as seven points during the first half, Ohio State took a 37-35 lead with 1:50 left in the first half and held it from there, even as it got tight. Nebraska pulled within two points at 65-63 and again at 69-67 but the Buckeyes answered each time.
With 3:04 left and the score at 69-67, Devin Royal yanked down an offensive rebound and drew a foul to send him to the line for two free throws. He hit both, and when Juwan Gary airballed a 3 at the other end Roddy Gayle finished a hard, driving layup to make it a six-point lead.
As Gayle lay on the floor in pain after his finish, Dale Bonner took a charge on the other end to negate the Nebraska advantage. Battle then drew a foul, hit both free throws to move him to 30 points on the night. He wasn't done: his finish in the paint with 1:31 left forced a Nebraska timeout with the lead at 77-67, and Battle celebrated by pumping his chest and yelling to the Ohio State student section, exhorting them to get louder.
Gayle returned by the end, helping salt away the win at the line.
For the second consecutive game, Ohio State took a hit before the opening tip. After missing Battle in Sunday’s win at Michigan State due to an ankle injury, the Buckeyes were without sophomore guard Bruce Thornton due to a migraine against the Cornhuskers.
The starting lineup of Bonner, Battle, Gayle Jr., Evan Mahaffey and Felix Okpara had appeared together in only nine games this season, totaling 12:59. It was Bonner’s first start of the season after he had started six games during his two seasons at Baylor.
Battle quickly started to make up for lost time, pacing Ohio State to an 11-6 lead by scoring each of his team’s points. Battle was perfect on three 3-pointers and hit two free throws, and when Gayle finished a nifty step-over at the left block the Buckeyes took a 13-6 lead into the first media timeout with 15:24 left.
Nebraska answered, though, and when Keisei Tominaga flicked in a baseline jumper from the right corner it pushed the Cornhuskers’ lead to a game-high seven points at 31-24 with 5:07 left as part of a 17-9 run. It stayed at seven points when Tominaga answered a Scotty Middleton 3-pointer with one of his own, and the senior hit one of two free throws with 3:48 left to give Nebraska a 35-30 lead.
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Ohio State turned up its defense, though, and the Buckeyes closed the half with a flourish. Middleton hit a 3, Battle scored on a layup and then another after Devin Royal stole the ball from Rienk Mast for a 7-0 run, and Battle wasn’t done yet. After Okpara swatted a Mast shot toward the Ohio State bench and Middleton saved it by leaping into the air and whipping it backwards and over his head with two hands, Battle drew a foul near the rim and sunk both free throws with 51.3 seconds left.
Mast drew a foul on Royal with 27.2 seconds left and hit the free throws to set the halftime score at 39-37 as the Buckeyes closed on a 9-2 run in the final 3:47 while forcing Nebraska to miss six shots and turn it over twice. Battle had 17 first-half points.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Without Bruce Thornton, Jamison Battle leads Ohio State past Nebraska
