Moments that mattered: Ohio State flinches in final minutes, falls to No. 10 Nebraska, 72-69

Moments that mattered: Ohio State flinches in final minutes, falls to No. 10 Nebraska, 72-69Story byConnor LemonsTue, January 6, 2026 at 1:34 AM UTC·6 min read

Three days after leaving New Jersey with their second Big Ten win of the season, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (10-4, 2-2) returned home to face No. 10 Nebraska (15-0, 4-0). The Cornhuskers entered Monday night’s game at 14-0 — the best start in program history, and were looking to avenge last year’s 116-114 double overtime loss to the Buckeyes in this same building.

Ohio State kept it close with the undefeated Cornhuskers early — after eight minutes Nebraska had a 15-13 lead. But then Fred Hoiberg’s team went on a dominant 12-0 run, knocking the Buckeyes to the mat and opening up a 27-13 lead in Columbus with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. Eight different Cornhuskers scored in the first half, showing a stark contrast to an Ohio State team that’s gotten next to nothing from its bench this season.

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The Buckeyes cut Nebraska’s lead to five points multiple times, but every time they tried to make it a one-possession game, the Cornhuskers would answer with a basket, or Ohio State would take a bad shot and waste an opportunity to make it a much closer game. A ‘Husker turnover with 25 seconds left until halftime gave Ohio State the ball and a chance to cut the deficit to five points before halftime, but Nebraska switched to a zone defense for the final possession, the Buckeyes weren’t ready, and Devin Royal’s contested three from the far wing missed rim completely.

Nebraska took a 38-31 lead into the halftime locker room. Every Nebraska player that saw the floor scored in the first half, but none of them scored more than seven. John Mobley Jr. had 10 points in the first half for Ohio State. Thornton had two points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Ohio State successfully cut it back to a one-possession game with 14:40 left in the game, as Mobley’s long two from just inside the arc found the bottom of the net to cut Nebraska’s lead to 43-41 to get the crowd on its feet. But, as was the theme all afternoon, Nebraska scored on their next possession, and scored again on a Brandon Noel bad pass turnover to push it back to 47-41 with 13:42 left in the game.

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The Buckeyes took a 53-50 lead on Thornton’s three-pointer with 8:38 remaining in the game, but a Mast three-point play, aided by a Devin Royal foul, put the Cornhuskers back up 60-58 with 4:39 remaining in the game. A Sandfort three-pointer that was created off of an offensive rebound put Nebraska up five points, and that was all she wrote for the Buckeyes Monday night, falling to No. 10 Nebraska, 72-69.

Nebraska scores on first four possessions

Any questions about if this Nebraska team was going to sleepwalk into tonight’s game coming off of a momentous win three days ago were put to bed early, as the visiting Cornhuskers scored on each of their first four possessions to take a 10-1 lead two minutes into the game.

Rienk Mast opened the scoring with a long two-pointer over the outstretched arms of Tilly. After Tilly split a pair of free throws to get Ohio State on the board, Jamarques Lawrence was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 4-1 Nebraska. Bruce Thornton rushed (and missed) a three, and on the other end Pryce Sandfort banged home a three to make it 7-1 Nebraska. Mast blocked Bynum below the basket on the ensuing Buckeye possession, and Lawrence hit a three from the far wing to make it 10-1 Nebraska just two minutes into the game.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBynum’s slam gets Ohio State within two

Trailing 15-11 with 12:08 remaining in the first half, Gabe Cupps passed to Royal at the top of the key, who immediately fired a missile to A’mare Bynum below the basket for a massive two-handed dunk that shook not just the rim, but the backboard and entire rolling base of the basket. It cut Nebraska’s lead to 15-13 momentarily and got the crowd on its feet, but Nebraska’s Braden Frager scored at the other end 20 seconds later to make it 17-13 again.

Nebraska’s 12-0 run

Frager’s layup was the start of a 12-0 run for Nebrasketball that turned their two-point lead into a 14-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. As was the trend throughout, Nebraska got baskets from five different players during that run, including two from Frager, who averages 11.4 points per game and had six in the first half.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOhio State flummoxed by zone to end the half

A Nebraska turnover with 25 seconds left in the first half handed the ball back to the Buckeyes, who had an opportunity to cut into the Cornhuskers’ 38-31 lead with the final possession. However, one that final possession Nebraska switched to a zone for the first time all day. Ohio State passed around the perimeter several times and settled for a Devin Royal long, contested three from the far wing, which missed the basket and rim completely and flew out of bounds. Nebraska got a big defensive stop to end the half, did not pay at all for their turnover, and took a 38-31 lead to the locker room.

Buckeyes cut it to two

Trailing 43-39 with 14:46 left in the game, Mobley hit a long two-pointer from just inside the three-point line to make it 43-41 Nebraska — the closest Ohio State had been in quite some time. However, Nebraska immediately scored after the Mobley basket, taking away the Buckeyes’ chance to tie or take the lead on the next possession.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOhio State’s first lead of the night

With 10:154 remaining in the game and Ohio State trailing 48-47, Thornton was fouled driving to the basket, and hit both free throws to put the Buckeyes up 49-48 and giving the home squad their first lead of the night. The teams then played back to a 50-50 tie before Thornton ripped a three-pointer over Nebraska’s zone defense with 8:38 left to put Ohio State up, 53-50.

Sandfort puts Nebraska up five

After Ohio State forced a Mast miss on a layup, the ball was loose on the ground as both teams dove for it, and ultimately the ball landed in Sandfort’s hands out on the three-point line. The junior let it fly and buried it, putting Nebraska back up 63-58 with 3:08 remaining.

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