Rienk Mast torches Ohio State as road woes continue at Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. – The visitors’ locker room at Pinnacle Bank Arena is within shouting distance of the court. Make a short jaunt through the tunnel leading from the hardwood, make a hard left and it’s only a few steps away.
If you were to sing or chant inside the locker room with the doors open, the sound could easily carry to the floor. It’s Ohio State’s tradition that, after road wins, the Buckeyes open the doors and yell the fight song so that it’s easily audible from the outside.
That’s a tradition that is fading into legend. The locker room remained closed Tuesday night, and there was no singing or chanting. Just another road loss, the 13th in a row, and this one got further away from the Buckeyes the longer it went.
The final: Nebraska 83, Ohio State 69. Locally, it might be remembered as the Rienk Mast Game. In Columbus, it’s just the 386th day without a road win for the Buckeyes (13-6, 3-5 Big Ten), who had no answers or ability to stop Mast and, by proxy, the Cornhuskers (15-5, 5-4).
The 6-10, 248-pound fourth-year forward who transferred from Bradley in the offseason buried six of his first seven three-point attempts, three of which came in a little more than two minutes to help Nebraska blow the game open. He would finish with a career-high 34 and pulled down 10 rebounds, and his second-half barrage helped turn a five-point game into a 16-point Nebraska lead with 9:51 to play that rendered the final minutes all but academic.
A moment later, Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann called timeout with his team down 65-51 and lit into the Buckeyes with a red-faced tirade.
It mattered little concerning the final outcome. The Cornhuskers, a 35.0% 3-point shooting team entering the game, torched Ohio State’s defense. Nebraska was 14 for 27 (51.9%) from 3 while Ohio State was 8 for 23 (34.8%).
Mast subbed out with about 40 seconds left to a standing ovation. His 34 points tie him with James Palmer Jr. for the most by a Nebraska player against Ohio State, and his six made 3-pointers are also a Cornhuskers' high against the Buckeyes.
By the end, Holtmann inserted sophomore Bowen Hardman, a dangerous but seldom-used shooter who had not appeared in a Big Ten game this season. He scored a career-high 11 points and was 3 for 7 from 3 after having totaled 20 points in 13 previous career appearances.
The Cornhuskers have their first-ever three-game winning streak against the Buckeyes. The 14-point margin of victory is their largest ever against Ohio State and more than their previous three wins (12) combined.
It didn't even matter that leading scorer Keisei Tominaga was held to 5 points on six shots, or that Juwan Gary remained out with a calf injury.
When Ohio State's Bruce Thornton sent the first half into the under-4 media timeout by drawing a second foul on Keisei Tominaga with 3:35 left in the half, he returned from the huddle and hit both free throws to tie the game at 32. Nebraska countered as Brice Williams drew a foul on Thornton with a hard drive to the basket, and he also hit his ensuing free throws to give the Cornhuskers a 34-32 lead with 3:16 left.
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It would be the start of another stumble to close a half for the Buckeyes, and this one featured a potential six-point swing. Fifth-year graduate transfer guard Dale Bonner, who had already missed two 3-pointers and turned the ball over by stepping out of bounds, was fouled by Jamarques Lawrence on a 3-point attempt from the right corner with 2:34 left and Ohio State still down two. A 72.7% free-throw shooter on the season, Bonner proceeded to miss all three free-throw attempts.
Nebraska took full advantage when Mast got the ball on the perimeter, gave a head fake that got Jamison Battle to fly past him, and calmly swished his third 3-pointer of the half. A 29.8% 3-point shooter entering the game, Mast was a combined 0 for 4 in his prior two games but was 3 for 4 during the first half against the Buckeyes. That make gave Nebraska a 37-32 lead, and when Williams put back his own miss after nobody blocked him out at the buzzer it set the halftime score at 43-35.
The Cornhuskers, who entered the game leading the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game at 9.8, opened 2 for 8 from deep as Ohio State was 2 for 3 during that same stretch. It allowed the Buckeyes to take a 22-13 lead on a pair of Thornton free throws with 11:38 left that capped a 9-0 Ohio State run, but Nebraska hit 5 of its final 9 from deep as the Buckeyes missed their final five of the half.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's road woes continue as Rienk Mast powers Nebraska
