LINCOLN, Neb. — Freshman Malaki Branham scored 35 points, Jamari Wheeler made two 3-pointers early in overtime and No. 13 Ohio State beat Nebraska 87-79 Sunday night.
Ohio State (9-2, 3-0 Big Ten) hadn’t played since Dec. 11 because of a COVID-19 outbreak in their program. EJ Liddell, who came in averaging 21.6 points per game, was just 2 of 14 for Ohio State.
Bryce McGowens led the Huskers (6-8, 0-3) with 18 points.
Branham had scored in double figures only once prior to Sunday, and his breakout game was well-timed, getting 21 of the Buckeyes’ first 32 points.
NO. 12 HOUSTON 66, TEMPLE 61
PHILADELPHIA — Fabian White Jr. had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 14 points to lead depleted Houston over Temple.
Houston (12-2, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) had 10 players available and only seven played, which was enough against Temple (7-6, 1-1), but certainly won’t sustain the team through the meat of AAC schedule. Coach Kelvin Sampson was forced to use grad assistants and managers in practice over the last week with so many players out with injuries or in COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Damian Dunn scored 14 points and Nick Jourdain had 12 for Temple, which made a run at an upset.
Jahlil White buried a 3 that pulled the Owls to 57-54 with 6 minutes left and Jourdain followed with Temple’s 10th 3-pointer to make it 59-57 with 3:53 left in the game.
NO. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 73, NORTHWESTERN 67
EVANSTON, Il. — Gabe Brown scored 20 points, Marcus Bingham Jr. added 13 and Michigan State rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to beat Northwestern.
Max Christie had 11 points and Joey Hauser added 10 as the Spartans (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) won their seventh straight.
Pete Nance had 13 points before fouling out and Boo Buie and Chase Audige had 12 points apiece for Northwestern (8-3, 1-1).
The Wildcats led virtually the entire first half, and were up 33-26 at halftime after holding Michigan State to 9-for-27 shooting, including 1 for 10 on 3-pointers, in the first half. The Spartans took a one-point lead in the second half, but went scoreless for nearly four minutes as Northwestern pulled within 65-63 and Brown essentially put the game away with a 3-pointer with 49.1 seconds remaining.
