LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Marc Loving was so open when he caught C.J. Jackson’s inbounds pass, there was only one thing for him to do.

“Easy,” he said. “Lay it in.”

Loving did just that after he took Jackson’s pass from under the basket. The ball bounced on the rim before dropping through with less than a second to play, giving Ohio State a 67-66 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night.

Loving had moved freely into the lane after the man guarding him, Tai Webster, switched off him and Glynn Watson Jr., who was coming to defend, fell down.

“The basketball gods kind of looked out for us because the guy just fell and left Marc wide open,” Jae’Sean Tate said. “It was good patience by C.J. to read the defense because I think it was like 4 1/2 seconds before he got the 5-second call and threw it, and Marc did the rest. We got a little lucky.”

Nebraska coach Tim Miles said, “When we lost our feet, well, then you’re dead.”

Watson didn’t come to the postgame interview room, but he tweeted, “Worst feeling ever … let my team down.”

Webster had driven for Nebraska’s go-ahead layup with 35 seconds left, and Ohio State played for the last shot. Loving missed a 3-pointer, but JaQuan Lyle got the rebound under the basket, and the Buckeyes were able to call timeout with 1.9 seconds left to set up the winning play.

Loving had 15 points, and Lyle and Jae’Sean Tate added 13 apiece for the Buckeyes (12-7, 2-4 Big Ten), who have won two straight.

“About time something good happened for us,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “C.J. made a tremendous read on the play, taking the ball inbounds, and did a tremendous job of being patient with it.”

The Buckeyes, who have won four straight over the Huskers, were turnover-free in the second half after committing 11 in the first while falling behind 40-32. They capitalized on Nebraska’s awful shooting. The Huskers hit 50 percent from the field in the first half but just 29.2 percent in the second.

“Everybody is going to remember the last play, obviously, and deservingly so,” Matta said. “We weren’t very good the first half, which was obvious. I talked about some things at halftime and told them we need to chip away. We really competed. Look, I could give 15 game balls away in that second half.”

Webster had 18 points to lead the Huskers (9-9, 3-3), who have lost three straight.

BIG PICTURE

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are building steam after an 0-4 start in Big Ten play. They came to Lincoln off a 72-67 win over Michigan State, and then overcame a bad first half to pick up a huge road victory.

Nebraska: The Huskers really needed to beat the Buckeyes to stay in contact with the Big Ten leaders. Three straight losses have wiped out what was their best start in conference play since 1975-76.

FREE-THROW WOES

Nebraska was 11 of 20 from the line, a continuation of its free-throw struggles. The Huskers were 15th nationally a month ago, making 78.3 percent. Since then they are shooting 63.2 percent from the line and rank 115th.

HE SAID IT

“Coming into the game, it’s actually funny, Coach Matta said the magic number to beat them is 67. He’s been saying that all week in practice. In the locker room, he kept that in our minds.” — Tate.

DOUBLE FIGURES, AGAIN

Nebraska’s Webster has scored in double figures in all 17 games this season and 18 straight dating back to last season.

UP NEXT

Ohio State: Plays at home Sunday against Northwestern. The Buckeyes have beaten the Wildcats 12 straight times since 2009.

Nebraska: Plays Saturday at Rutgers. The Huskers have won all three meetings since joining the Big Ten in 2011.

— Associated Press —

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Derrick Walton made up for some early foul trouble with another inspired performance down the stretch.

Walton scored 16 of his 20 points in the final 7:25, and Michigan held on for a much-needed victory Saturday, 91-85 over Nebraska. Walton played only 10 minutes in the first half because he picked up two fouls, but the senior helped the Wolverines pull through against another opponent that shot terrifically from 3-point range.

“I felt like I hurt my team by being in foul trouble in the first half, so I wanted to just come out and be aggressive,” Walton said.

Nebraska (9-8, 3-2 Big Ten) went 9 of 18 from beyond the arc, but Michigan matched that percentage by going 11 of 22. Moe Wagner scored 23 points for the Wolverines (12-6, 2-3) and Zak Irvin added 21.

Tai Webster had 28 points for Nebraska, and Glynn Watson scored 20 of his 22 in the second half.

Michigan opponents are shooting a staggering 55 percent from 3-point range in conference play. The Wolverines held the Cornhuskers to only three attempts from beyond the arc in the first half, but Nebraska scored 20 of its first 22 points from in the paint and trailed just 40-36 at halftime.

The Cornhuskers had more success from the perimeter in the second half, but their inability to get to the free throw line ended up being crucial. Michigan went 26 of 30 from the line, while Nebraska was 4 of 5.

“We beat them on the boards. We had 44 (points) in the paint, but we just don’t get to the foul line,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “We just can’t get beat at the foul line that bad. That really hurt us.”

The Cornhuskers were without forward Ed Morrow because of a right foot injury.

The Wolverines led by 10 briefly in the second half, but it was 66-63 when Walton went to the line with 7:25 remaining. Michigan’s point guard would score 13 of his team’s next 14 points, including a 3-pointer with 5:28 to play after the lead had been cut to one.

It was similar to his performance in the final minutes when the Wolverines beat Penn State on Jan. 4.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have dropped two in a row after winning their first three Big Ten games. Webster scored 17 points in the first half, but Nebraska was never able to take the lead against a Michigan team that seemed to be on the ropes after a poor start in conference play.

Michigan: At some point, opponents will stop shooting such a remarkable percentage from 3-point range against the Wolverines. That’s the assumption, at least. But until it happens, Michigan will have to whether the storm and win with its offense. The Wolverines were able to do that Saturday.

“We didn’t stop them very often,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “We outscored them, and if that’s the way it’s got to be for a while, while we shore that up, that’s what we’re going to have to do.”

QUOTEABLE

Miles did little to hide his excitement about Nebraska’s rematch with the Wolverines on March 5.

“I can’t wait to play Michigan again,” he said. “We’ll welcome them back into Pinnacle Bank Arena with open arms, and I’m excited for the game already. I wish we could play it tonight.”

UP NEXT

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers host Ohio State on Wednesday night.

Michigan: The Wolverines play perhaps the toughest conference game on their schedule this season when they visit Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Mike Riley fired defensive coordinator Mark Banker on Wednesday after the unit underperformed in some of the Cornhuskers’ most important games.

Banker coached with Riley for 20 years, including 14 years at Oregon State and the last two at Nebraska.

“I want to thank Mark for his hard work and contributions to our football program the past two years and for all of his service and dedication as a member of my other coaching staffs,” Riley said. “We will conduct a national search to find a great coach, teacher and recruiter as we continue our pursuit of championships.”

Banker is the second assistant from the 2016 staff who was fired. Riley dismissed special teams coordinator Bruce Read on Nov. 27, two days after the Huskers’ 40-10 loss at Iowa.

Though the Huskers rose from 64th to 30th nationally in total defense, they struggled on the big stage. Nebraska started 7-0 but lost four of its last six games. The Huskers allowed an average of 42 points and 445 yards in their three games against ranked opponents. Though they were second in the Big Ten with 16 interceptions, they finished 10th in the conference in pass defense.

The Huskers tackled poorly while giving up 521 yards to Tennessee in a 38-24 Music City Bowl loss on Dec. 30.

Riley also announced defensive backs coach Brian Stewart and director of player personnel Ryan Gunderson are leaving to pursue other opportunities.

“Brian Stewart has informed me of his plans to take a defensive coordinator position at another university,” Riley said. “Brian feels this is a great opportunity for him and his family and I respect his decision.”

Gunderson oversaw roster management and the recruiting and evaluation process. Riley said Gunderson wants to pursue an on-field coaching opportunity.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Northwestern came to Nebraska off two straight losses and went into halftime at Pinnacle Bank Arena on the wrong end of a dizzying 14-0 run that wiped out its double-digit lead.

“We know we have good players, we know we have a good team,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. “But can we be tough? In this league, you have to be incredibly tough to win.”

The Wildcats were tough enough Sunday, winning 74-66 against a Nebraska team that started the day alone in first place in the Big Ten.

Scottie Lindsey scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and Northwestern withstood the run that stretched to 16-0 early in the second half.

“I think it gives a lot of our confidence back,” Lindsey said. “We’d lost two straight games, and it’s easy to fold like that. We wanted to come in here against a team that’s proven that they’re here to stay; they’re No. 1 in the conference right now. We wanted to come in here and get a big win, and we did.”

Vic Law was 5 for 6 on 3-pointers and finished with 15 points for the Wildcats (13-4, 2-2 Big Ten), who also got 13 points from Dererk Pardon.

Tai Webster scored 17 points to lead the Huskers (9-7, 3-1), who lost for the first time in five games.

Northwestern made its first five 3s of the second half, with Law hitting one to give the Wildcats a 56-50 lead. The Huskers got no closer than five points in the last six minutes.

“We knew they had shooters, and one quick letup and just like that it’s five 3s, and they go on a run and now we’re playing catch-up,” Nebraska’s Evan Taylor said. “It’s a learning lesson. We have to get better moving forward.”

The Huskers looked ready to blow out the Wildcats after they outscored them 14-0 over the last 1:42 of the half to go up 37-33, with Webster popping a 3 just before the buzzer.

“Initially a little shell-shocked,” Collins said, describing his players’ mood at half. “I think we were angry but initially we couldn’t really express it because we felt we were in control of the game. The tempo was to our liking, we were playing pretty good defense. It hit us like a buzz saw. Webster hits the 3 at the buzzer and you’re down four. That was a critical time for our team.”

Northwestern matched its season high with 11 3s on 24 attempts. The Wildcats shot 50 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game. The Huskers mustered just 37.5 percent after halftime and 43.1 percent overall.

“They packed it in and dared us to shoot outside shots,” Taylor said. “I thought their defensive game plan was good, but we kind of got timid on offense.”

The Huskers, trying to start conference play 4-0 for the first time since 1975-76, got 12 points from Michael Jacobson and 11 from Taylor. But Glynn Watson Jr., who had a career-high 34 against Iowa on Thursday, was held to just six points.

“You live and die by the jumper,” Jacobson said. “If you’re making them, everything looks good. As soon as they don’t go in, it’s pretty ugly.”

BIG PICTURE

Northwestern: The Wildcats are in the middle of playing four of its first five conference games on the road for the first time since 1955-56. Beating the Huskers was almost a must for a team that harbors hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Nebraska: The Huskers were coming off their thrilling double-overtime victory over Iowa on Thursday, and it didn’t look like they were short on energy early. But it became apparent fatigue was a factor as Northwestern began winning most the loose balls and Nebraska’s shooting took a dive in the second half.

HE SAID IT

“One of our better wins, if you consider what Nebraska was playing like. They were the hottest team in our league… They have one game they’d like to have back. Everybody says, `Oh, they lost to Gardner-Webb.’ We all have a game where you’re a little braindead in the nonconference before Christmas. For us to come in here and steal one on the road was huge for our team and program.” — Collins.

UP NEXT

Northwestern: visits Rutgers on Thursday.

Nebraska: visits Michigan on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Glynn Watson Jr. scored a career-high 34 points, Tai Webster made the go-ahead free throw in the last minute of the second overtime, and Nebraska held off Iowa 93-90 on Thursday night.

The Cornhuskers (9-6, 3-0 Big Ten) followed up surprising road wins over Indiana and Maryland with a victory in their conference home opener. They are 3-0 in league play for the first time since 1975-76.

The Huskers had a chance to win in regulation, but Evan Taylor missed two free throws with 1.3 seconds left.

Peter Jok scored 34 points to lead Iowa (9-7, 1-2), which saw its five-game win streak against Nebraska end.

Webster finished with 23 points and seven assists for the Huskers, Jeriah Horne added 12 points and Michael Jacobson had 13 rebounds.

Webster went to the line after Jok fouled out with 54.6 seconds left. He made the first and missed the second, leaving the Huskers with a one-point lead.

Horne made two more free throws with 17.4 seconds to play. The Hawkeyes still had two chances to win, but Jordan Bohannon missed a shot and, after Taylor missed two more free throws, Brady Ellingson was off with his desperation 3-point try at the buzzer.

Nebraska struggled with free-throw shooting in regulation, making just 8 of 19, but needed Taylor to make just one of two to likely win it in regulation.

His first swirled out of the cylinder and the second bounced away. Taylor had gotten his chance after Iowa flubbed its previous possession. Webster stripped the ball from Jok, Horne picked it up for Nebraska and passed ahead to Taylor, who was fouled from behind by Nicholas Baer as he was going to the hoop.

Taylor came into the game having made 12 of 14 free throws for the season but was 0 for 5 against the Hawks.

The Huskers made all six of their free throws in the first overtime to force another period.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa: The Hawkeyes dropped to 0-3 in true road games but hung tough in a hostile environment with a starting lineup that includes four freshmen and a senior.

Nebraska: The Huskers continue to get impressive play from the backcourt of Watson and Webster, who combined for 57 points, and showed their road wins over Indiana and Maryland were no fluke.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Hosts Rutgers on Sunday.

Nebraska: Hosts Northwestern on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — If the start of Big Ten play is any indication, this could be a very special season for the Nebraska basketball team.

Tai Webster scored 18 points, and the Cornhuskers closed with a 14-0 run to beat Maryland 67-65 Sunday and end the Terrapins’ six-game winning streak.

Nebraska trailed 65-53 with six minutes left before charging back behind Webster, who scored the game’s final seven points.

Glynn Watson Jr. scored 17 for the Cornhuskers (8-6, 2-0), off to their best start in league play since the 2005-06 season.

“It was a really critical win,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “You don’t get it without buying in, and these guys have bought into each other.”

After losing half its 12 non-conference games — including a defeat at home against Gardner-Webb — Nebraska used a 54-point second half Wednesday to upset No. 16 Indiana, which had had won 26 straight at home.

That victory was no less shocking that this one, given that the Cornhuskers had yielded 17 straight points to a team that was 17-1 at home in the Big Ten since joining the league.

“We wanted to play better in moments like this, obviously, after not having the start of the season we wanted,” Webster said.

A layup by Webster with 30 seconds left put Nebraska up 66-65. After the senior guard added a free throw with 17 seconds to go, Maryland still had a chance to salvage the victory. But Melo Trimble fired up an air ball with five seconds left and clanged a shot off the rim just before the buzzer.

Coach Mark Turgeon said, “I told our guys in a meeting yesterday, `You got to knock Nebraska out. They keep coming.’ We never knocked them out.”

Trimble, Maryland’s scoring leader, finished with 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting and had three turnovers.

Freshman Kevin Huerter scored a career-high 26 points for the Terrapins (13-2, 1-1). Maryland’s last basket was a jumper by Trimble in the paint with 6:43 remaining.

Earlier, the Terps appeared poised to win by virtue of a comeback of their own.

After Nebraska took a 41-33 lead early in the second half, Trimble hit a 3-pointer and Justin Jackson sank a layup to spark a 10-2 run that evened the score.

The Cornhuskers answered with successive layups, but would not score again over the next four minutes.

Maryland’s 17-point surge included four-point plays by Trimble and Huerter. That made it 60-43, but the Terrapins added only five points the rest of the way.

“Did a lot of nice things,” Turgeon said. “It’s disappointing we let it get away.”

Watson scored 12 points in the first half and the Cornhuskers went 4 for 5 from beyond the arc in taking a 34-30 lead.

Huerter kept the Terrapins close with 13 points, including six in a 10-0 run that erased a 26-19 deficit.

Maryland missed 11 of its first 13 field goal tries and shot 33 percent before the break.

ZONED OUT

Nebraska’s switch to a 1-3-1 zone down the stretch blunted Maryland’s offense and made the comeback possible.

“We just had to go with it, and the guys did great,” Miles said.

Turgeon said: “The 1-3-1, we didn’t work on it enough. It’s 100 percent on me. We got some good looks. Got a few layups against it and just couldn’t finish. With that said, we just needed to make one play. We needed that one stop and a rebound. Or one play offensively. And we just never did it.”

ANOTHER MILESTONE

It was Nebraska’s first win against Maryland in five tries. The series began in 2015.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: Playing at a school known for its football team, the Cornhuskers’ basketball squad just might draw some attention from the state’s faithful fan base.

Maryland: Coming in, the Terps appeared on the brink of reaching the Top 25. It’s going to take some work to get there again.

UP NEXT

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers host Iowa on Thursday night. The Hawkeyes lead the series 18-9, but Nebraska is 7-5 at home.

Maryland: The Terrapins get a five-day break before facing Michigan on the road Saturday afternoon.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska volleyball standouts Amber Rolfzen and Kadie Rolfzen have signed professional contracts with the powerful Dresdner Sportclub 1898 in Germany.

The university announced their signings on Thursday.

Amber Rolfzen earned her second AVCA All-America honor as a senior in 2016 and was an All-Big Ten selection for the second straight season. Kadie Rolfzen was a two-time first-team AVCA All-American. She became only the second four-time AVCA All-American in program history after earning third-team accolades as a freshman and sophomore.

The twins helped lead the Cornhuskers to the national championship in 2015 and a Big Ten championship and NCAA final four in 2016.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Glynn Watson Jr. scored 26 points and Tai Webster had 21 Wednesday night, leading Nebraska to a stunning 87-83 upset of No. 16 Indiana.

The Cornhuskers (7-6, 1-0) snapped Indiana’s 26-game home winning streak by finishing with their highest point total of the season in the Big Ten opener for both.

Indiana’s last loss at Assembly Hall was to Michigan State on March 7, 2015.

Robert Johnson finished with 19 points and Thomas Bryant had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers (10-3, 0-1).

Indiana appeared to have seized control when it took a 42-35 lead early in the second half.

But the Cornhuskers answered with a 13-2 run and rebuilt a seven-point lead with 9 minutes to go.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Katie Lou Samuelson scored 23 points and Kia Nurse added 20 to help No. 1 UConn rout Nebraska 84-41 on Wednesday night for the Huskies’ 86th consecutive victory.

The streak is the second longest in NCAA women’s basketball history behind the 90 straight UConn won from 2008-11.

The Huskies (11-0) were never challenged by Nebraska (4-8), which hit just one of its first 10 shots against the stout Huskie defense. UConn jumped out to a 7-0 lead on Samuelson’s 3-pointer 2 1/2 minutes into the game, went up 10 on Kia Nurse’s jumper with 3:26 left in the first quarter and led 22-7 at the end of the first period.

UConn’s largest lead was 48 at 78-30 early in the fourth period.

Napheesa Collier had 14 points and 15 rebounds while Gabby Williams had 10 points and nine boards for the Huskies.

Hannah Whitish led Nebraska with nine points.

BIG PICTURE

UConn: UConn has now won 29 consecutive road games, dating to an overtime loss to Stanford in Nov. 2014. The Huskies have won 99 straight road games against unranked opponents, dating to a loss at Arizona State in Dec. 2004.

Nebraska: The Huskers are playing what is likely the toughest schedule in school history. Nebraska has now lost to three undefeated teams, UConn, No. 23 Virginia Tech and California. Nebraska’s strength of schedule was No. 27 nationally before Wednesday’s game.

UP NEXT

UConn: travels to No. 4 Maryland on Dec. 29 for what could be their toughest game left on the schedule

Nebraska: hosts Northwestern on Dec. 28.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Tyrell Nelson knew what Sunday’s 70-62 win over Nebraska means for Gardner-Webb.

“This is huge, this one is huge,” Nelson said. “We somewhat struggled in the beginning (of the season) but this win is very big for us, going into the Christmas break and going into conference. It’s very, very big for us.”

Nelson scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half to help Gardner-Webb beat Nebraska 70-62 on Sunday.

Nebraska cut it to 62-60 on Tai Webster’s free throws with 2:21 left. But Gardner-Webb hit 3 of 4 free-throw attempts down the stretch and David Efianayi hit a game-clinching layup with 29 seconds left.

Efianayi had 11 points for Gardner-Webb (7-5). The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field, 48 percent in the second half, and made 12 of 17 second-half free throws.

Tai Webster led Nebraska (5-6) with 17 points. Glynn Watson Jr. had 14 points and Ed Morrow Jr. pulled down 15 rebounds.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles was despondent with his team’s listless performance in front of 8,144 fans in the usually-packed 14,000-seat Pinnacle Bank Arena..

“I never dreamt in five years this is where we would be, losing to Gardner-Webb,” Miles said. “We’re not where we should be. The issue is us. It’s us and our mindset.

“It was the smallest crowd I’d ever seen at Pinnacle Bank Arena and we told our guys it was going to be. We had bad weather, you’ve got a lot of things going on, and we’re going to have to create our own energy. We talked about that, and we didn’t.”

Nebraska led by as many as seven in the first half, but the cold-shooting Huskers saw that lead cut to just two at intermission. Nebraska hit just 40 percent of its shots for the game, made 15 of 26 free throws and committed 20 turnovers.

The Bulldogs opened up a four-point lead early in the second half, but a 5-0 spurt by Nebraska put the Huskers up 36-35. Gardner-Webb took the lead for good on Nelson’s 3-pointer to make it 45-43 with 12:57 left and opened the advantage to seven on Efianayi’s free throws five minutes later.

Beating a Big Ten team on the road was critical for Gardner-Webb going forward, said coach Tim Craft.

“I think what it does for our players is it validates some of the things that we’ve been talking to them as a coaching staff about and how good they can be if they can play in a stance all the time and defend with max effort all the time,” Craft said. “It’s exciting to see them have success against a team in the Big Ten.”

BIG PICTURE

Gardner-Webb: The Bulldogs traveled from North Carolina to the heartland to wrap up their pre-conference season.

Nebraska: The Huskers have played the toughest schedule in the country, according to the NCAA RPI. Five of Nebraska’s first 10 opponents are in the top 50 of the RPI, tying for the national lead.

UP NEXT

Gardner Webb is at Kansas State Tuesday.

Nebraska hosts Southern on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —