THE BASICS

Score: Nebraska 71, Ohio 58

Location: 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic - Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu, Hawaii

The Short Story: Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) finished in double figures for a second-straight game with 15 points, but the Ohio men's basketball team (4-6) fell to Nebraska (8-4), 71-58, on Thursday (Dec. 25) in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic fifth-place game at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #24 Mike Laster, #33 Antonio Campbell  

NEBRASKA STARTERS: #2 David Rivers, #3 Benny Parker, #5 Terran Petteway, #31 Shavon Shields, #35 Walter Pitchford

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- Nebraska's trademark defense kept Ohio's offense in check, limiting the Bobcats to 37.7 percent shooting and scoring 15 points off of 15 Ohio turnovers. 

- Willis knocked down a game-high three treys, dished out a game-high four assists and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds. 

- Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) totaled 12 points and collected two steals and a rebound. 

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied eight points and seven rebounds.

- Freshman guard Mike Laster (Detroit, Mich.) compiled eight points, two rebounds and a steal.

- Freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) posted seven points, two rebounds and a steal.

- Redshirt junior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) scored six points and grabbed six rebounds and two steals and handed out an assist. 

- Nebraska opened up the contest with a 10-2 lead, with a three from junior guard Benny Parker.

- The Cornhuskers' lead swelled to a first-half high nine points when junior forward Shavon Shields made a layup with 12:37 to play. 

- Ohio answered with an 11-2 run to tie the contest with 22-all with 4:57 left in the half, thanks in large part to a jumper by Ndour, a layup by Laster and a jumper by Setty following a big offensive rebound off a miss by Ndour. 

- The Cornhuskers built their lead back up to eight at 30-22 with eight answered points, but the Bobcats evened the score again at 30-30 with 38 seconds left after both Ndour and Laster knocked down a pair of free throws and Setty hit another. 

- Nebraska entered halftime with a two-point lead 32-30 and accounted for seven of the second half's first nine points to take a seven-point lead at 18:10 off a jumper by junior guard Terran Petteway. 

- The Bobcats brought the deficit back down to two at 41-39 thanks to a 7-0 run by Willis, who made a trey, converted two free throws and hit a jumper.

- The Huskers answered back again with a 14-6 run to take a 10-point lead at 55-45 with just over nine minutes to go. 

-  A layup by Ndour and threes by Campbell and Setty shaved Nebraska's lead back down to four at 57-53 just over a minute later, but the Cornhuskers closed out the win with a 14-5 run over the final seven minutes of the game.

- Petteway led the Huskers with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. He also posted three assists, two blocks and two steals.

- Shields also recorded 22 points for Nebraska to go along with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

- Junior forward Walter Pitchford tallied nine points, five rebounds and a block.

- Senior forward David Rivers totaled a game-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points, two steals and an assist.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Ohio finished 1-2 in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, placing sixth. The Bobcats opened the Classic with a 77-49 loss to George Washington on Monday (Dec. 22) but bounced back with a dominating 99-78 triumph over DePaul the following day.
- Willis reached double figures for the seventh time this season and 16th time in his career and led Ohio in points for the fifth time this season and assists for the seventh time.

- Ndour posted double figures in points for the eighth time this season and 33rd time in his career.

- Thursday's game featured a coaching matchup between first-year Ohio head coach Saul Phillips and third-year Nebraska head coach Tim Miles. Phillips was an assistant coach for three seasons under Miles at North Dakota State (2004-07). The Bison went 52-32 (.619) during that stretch.

- Ohio is now 7-5 all-time in games played in the Aloha State.

- Thursday's game marked the first time ever Ohio played a contest on Christmas Day.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "We come out of this tournament a much better team than we were when we came into this tournament. I don't think there's any question about that."

- "If you're wondering what we're gonna bring here, you're gonna like this second semester, and you're gonna like this second part of the season. This is heading in the right direction."

UP NEXT

Ohio closes the book on its 2014-15 non-conference schedule when it welcomes UNC Wilmington to the Convocation Center next Tuesday (Dec. 30). The final game of the 2013-14 calendar year tips off at 7 p.m. ET.

#SaulBall