By Bob Baptist
The Columbus Dispatch
Saturday January 21, 2012 10:22 PM
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska’s upset win over No.11 Indiana earlier in the week was not a sign of things to come tonight.
Ohio State brought its defense on this road trip, forcing the Cornhuskers into 25 turnovers, and William Buford led three scorers in double figures with 15 points as the sixth-ranked Buckeyes easily disposed of Nebraska 79-45 in the Devaney Center.
Buford played his steadiest game in weeks, making more than half of his shots from the field -- including three three-pointers -- and not committing a turnover in 27 minutes.
Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas added 14 points apiece for Ohio State (17-3 overall, 5-2 Big Ten), which won for the third time in six road games this season. The Buckeyes had lost two of their previous three conference road games, at Indiana and Illinois, and the Illini had shot 60 percent from the field in their victory.
Nebraska (10-9, 2-6), which had won its previous two home games, against Penn State and Indiana, had only 13 field goals tonight. The Huskers also had more turnovers than baskets made in a 71-40 loss to the Buckeyes on Jan.3 in Columbus.
Cotninued.............
__________________ Meyer is back. Deal with it Florida.
Men's Basketball
Buford, Buckeyes, Bust Out Of Road Slumps, Reclaim Top Spot In Big Ten
By Ben Axelrod
Earlier this week, Ohio State senior guard William Buford said that he knew what he needed to do to snap out of a month-long shooting slump.
On Saturday, he proved it.
Buford scored a game-high 15 points in 28 minutes and sophomore forward Deshaun Thomas added 14 points as the No. 6 Buckeyes (17-3, 5-2) picked up a 79-45 road win over Nebraska (10-9, 2-6). The win launched OSU back atop the Big Ten standings and into a three-way tie for the conference lead with Michigan and Michigan State.
Perhaps fittingly considering how conference play has began not only for the Buckeyes, but for the rest of the league, OSU’s win over the Cornhuskers didn’t start out as a pretty one.
Nebraska jumped out to an 8-5lead in the first four minutes of the game before a 19-6 OSU run put the Buckeyes up 24-14 with five minutes left in the first half. A weaving Aaron Craft found junior forward Evan Ravenel for a buzzer-beating jump hook to give OSU a 36-20 lead heading into halftime in Lincoln.
The second half wasn’t any kinder for the Huskers, who fell behind by as many as 34 points after intermission. The Buckeyes stretched what was a 12-2 run to close the first half into a 17-2 run to put the game well out of reach early in the second half.
Nearly a week after scoring a career-high 28 points against Indiana, sophomore guard Lenzelle Smith, Jr. scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting and committed four personal fouls. OSU sophomore Jared Sullinger added 14 points and five rebounds for the Buckeyes.
Continued.............
__________________ Meyer is back. Deal with it Florida.