National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio St. 71, Nebraska 67
When: 2:25 PM ET, Friday, March 14, 2014
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Jim Burr, # Bill Ek, # Mike Sanzere
Attendance: N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.


No. 24 Ohio State 71, Nebraska 67: LaQuinton Ross scored 18 of his career-high 26 points after intermission as the Buckeyes overcame a huge second-half deficit to rally past the Cornhuskers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.

One day after grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds in Ohio State’s first-round win over Purdue, Ross collected 13 more for the fifth-seeded Buckeyes (25-8), who have won 20 of their last 24 games at this event and will play top-seeded Michigan in Saturday’s semifinals. Amedeo Della Valle added 12 points, including four late free throws to seal it.

Terran Petteway finished with 20 points before fouling out in the final minute for fourth-seeded Nebraska (19-12), which was denied a chance to make the conference semifinals for the first time since 2006. Walter Pitchford had 15 points while Shavon Shields posted 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska missed 11 of its first 13 shots to fall behind by as many as eight before hitting six of its final nine field-goal attempts during a half-ending 19-8 spurt to take a three-point edge. The Cornhuskers held Ohio State to one field goal over the first 6½ minutes of the second half and capitalized on their offensive momentum, getting nine points from Petteway during a 17-2 run as the lead quickly swelled to 18.

The Buckeyes rattled Nebraska with full-court pressure and erased the deficit behind 14 points over the next 11½ minutes from Ross, who tied it at 63 with a pair of free throws with 1:52 left and gave the Buckeyes the lead a minute later with two more foul shots. Shields and Pitchford each hit two free throws to bring Nebraska within two twice in the final seconds, but Della Valle matched them at the stripe.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ohio State coach Thad Matta improved to 56-14 in March. … With 561 points this season, Petteway moved into seventh place on Nebraska's single-season scoring list. … Ross was charged with a technical foul with 14:58 remaining after shoving Pitchford following an offensive foul call.

Top Game Performances
 
Ohio St.   Nebraska
LaQuinton Ross 26 Scoring Terran Petteway 20
Aaron Craft 6 Assists Shavon Shields 4
LaQuinton Ross 13 Rebounds David Rivers 9
LaQuinton Ross 7 Free Throws Made Terran Petteway 7
Amedeo Della Valle 2 Steals Benny Parker 2
Amedeo Della Valle 3 Blocks Walter Pitchford 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Ohio St. 71 45.5 4-18 17-28 12 42 7 6 30
Nebraska 67 36.7 6-20 17-20 9 31 2 7 20