Ohio State sophomore guard Madison Greene (0) moves the ball down the court during the Ohio State-Northern Kentucky Norse game on Dec. 6. Ohio State won 96-63. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
After surviving in overtime against Iowa earlier this week, the Buckeyes look to continue their quest toward an undefeated season against in-conference foe Nebraska.
No. 15 Ohio State (7-0) scored by committee on Wednesday night against Iowa, having four players with double-digit totals. Senior guard Braxtin Miller said that the team expects this kind of offensive production from each other moving forward.
“I think, we as a team know that that’s always a possibility, whether everybody else sees it is not really something we’re concerned about. We as a team know how many people who are able to score and it could be anybody’s night on any night,” Miller said. “I don’t think that really surprises us — we see it in practice and everything else. Every game we’re going to have people that are able to contribute in so many different ways, especially scoring. We’re talented individually but also as a team.”
Nebraska (6-4) is returning to Pinnacle Bank Arena with their first road victory of the season, defeating then-No. 23 Michigan State 68-64 Sunday.
The win was their second over an AP Top 25-ranked team this season and third in their last four games.
The Cornhuskers rely heavily on a duo of junior guard Sam Haiby and sophomore forward Isabelle Bourne for their offensive production, averaging 16.0 and 14.7 points per game, respectively.
Haiby’s efforts have been rewarded with back-to-back appearances on the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll after she recorded her first career double-double last week.
Nebraska is one of the best rebounding teams in the conference — ranking fourth with 41.5 per game. Haiby also helps in this department, leading the team with 7.8 rebounds per game.
The Buckeyes take on a Cornhuskers team ranked 185th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 66.7 points per game. Ohio State counters with the second-best scoring offense in the Big Ten — averaging 89.9 points per game.
Although several notable players returned to the court on Wednesday, the Buckeyes are still without their star rebounder, junior forward Dorka Juhasz.
After Wednesday’s game, sophomore guard Madison Greene said that rebounding is a team effort.
“I just feel like we have a lot of big players and even though Dorka is missing, we still have a lot of depth and height and we rebounded well so I’m happy,” Greene said.
Juhasz leads the team on the year with 10.5 rebounds per game.
There is no report from the team regarding Juhasz’s status for the upcoming matchup with the Cornhuskers.
The team looks to its depth off of the bench to continue to produce winning results.
“We definitely have a lot of depth and I think that is what makes us so dangerous as a team. People like Rikki (Harris) and Gabby (Hutcherson) and Tanaya (Beacham) and Rebeka (Mikulasikova), everybody has been stepping up these last couple games so I’m really proud of them,” Greene said.
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers will tip off at 5 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday.
