National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio St. 84, Nebraska 53
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 4, 2014
Where: Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Officials: # D.J. Carstensen, # Bill Ek, # Lamont Simpson
Attendance: 17536
By SportsDirect Inc.

No. 3 Ohio State 84, Nebraska 53: Amedeo Della Valle led a balanced offense with 15 points off the bench as the Buckeyes pulled away to win their Big Ten home opener.

Marc Loving and Shannon Scott scored 13 while LaQuinton Ross had 11 for Ohio State (15-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which made 54 percent from the field and was 9-of-19 from 3-point range. Amir Williams recorded 10 points and Aaron Craft added nine points, four assists and three steals for the Buckeyes.

Terran Petteway led the way with 15 points for Nebraska (8-6, 0-2), which has dropped its third straight contest. Leslee Smith registered 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Cornhuskers shot 37.5 percent from the field.

Ohio State scored eight straight points, capped by a steal and layup from Craft, to take a 27-19 lead before Nebraska fought back within three. But a 3-pointer by Craft, Della Valle’s tip-in and a pair of Sam Thompson free throws ended the half as the Buckeyes led 40-30 at intermission.

The Buckeyes took total control with 12 straight points early in the second half, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Ross, to take a 56-36 lead. The Cornhuskers could not get any closer than 14 the rest the way as Ohio State held its 15th straight opponent to fewer than 70 points this season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ohio State has beaten Nebraska nine straight times and leads the all-time series 10-2. … Petteway, Walter Pitchford and Ray Gallegos came in shooting 40 percent combined from 3-point range for Nebraska, but were held to 3-of-12 from behind the arc. … Craft has 14 assists, seven steals and zero turnovers in the first two Big Ten games.
Top Game Performances
 
Nebraska   Ohio St.
Terran Petteway 15 Scoring Amedeo Della Valle 15
Terran Petteway 2 Assists Shannon Scott 5
Leslee Smith 10 Rebounds Marc Loving 5
Terran Petteway 4 Free Throws Made Marc Loving 7
Ray Gallegos 1 Steals Aaron Craft 3
Terran Petteway 1 Blocks Amir Williams 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Nebraska 53 37.5 4-15 7-12 7 29 1 3 13
Ohio St. 84 54.0 9-19 21-29 14 32 5 7 7