COLUMBUS, Ohio - As if enough problems hadn't piled up for Ohio State as of late, another shocker was announced prior to Tuesday night's game that Chris Holtmann had suspended Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. for "failure to meet program standards and expectations."

The guard tandem had not been playing well, shooting a combined 25 percent from the floor over the Buckeyes' four game losing streak, but their presence, specifically Muhammad's on defense, was not one Ohio State could afford to lose at a pivotal point like this in the season.

"The timing was not good. It did not factor into my decision one bit," Holtmann said. "...it was just the decision I felt like was best for our team and our program."

The suspensions were not elaborated on after the game, but they meant, for at least one night, that Holtmann would have to rely heavily on his two other healthy scholarship guards, CJ Walker and D.J. Carton, who have had their own struggles this season after a hot start to the year.

In only Carton's second start of the season and Walker earning Ohio State career-highs in points and minutes played, like diamonds forming under pressure, the guard duo responded with a team-carrying performance to get the Buckeyes back in the win column with a 80-68 victory over Nebraska.

Even with the impressive performances, Kaleb Wesson said it wasn't anything the team didn't expect out of the two.

"What we've pretty much seen all year. Same guys, we just produced better today," Wesson said. "Today we saw that guys were out and down and we stepped up."

The return to the land of the winning came via a return to the type of basketball the Buckeyes had played early in the season. Kaleb Wesson finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year, but it felt for the first time in a while like Ohio State wasn't leaning on him for offense.

Six Buckeyes finished with double digits and Ohio State shot 55 percent from the field. Point guard play, a luxury early in the season and a pain point as of late, improved as Carton and Walker combined for 31 points on 45 percent shooting from the field.

With so many Buckeyes finishing with double digit points, the offense flowed better against Nebraska even with lineups that Ohio State hasn't shown this year, and Holtmann says the ball movement was much improved on Tuesday.

"Better ball movement. Ball didn't stick as much. We did make shots, but I would say overall, better ball movement," Holtmann said. "I just thought we moved a little quicker and we were able to attack them in ways and get to the paint more than we had in previous games."

While the win momentarily stops the Scarlet and Gray bleeding, is this type of play sustainable?

For example, over Ohio State's four-game losing streak, the Buckeyes shot 28 percent from 3-point range while opponents connected on 38 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Against Nebraska, the Buckeyes were 10-of-22 on 3-pointers while they held the Cornhuskers to 40.9 percent. An obvious improvement for the Buckeyes, but with their second best 3-point shooter in Washington on the bench, Tuesday night may have been a stroke of fortune for Ohio State instead of an indicator for things to come.

The turnovers weren't as damaging for the Buckeyes against Nebraska as they had been in the last few games, just nine in 40 minutes, but they're still more than the team feels comfortable with, and Holtmann said Ohio State still has a ways to go.

"I tried to make that point with also letting them enjoy the win tonight," Holtmann said. "I told them it was great to see smiles on their faces, but we need to play better in certain areas. I think we all understand what we're going to see Saturday in terms of that environment and as motivated as Penn State will be."

The schedule won't loosen up for Ohio State after their win over Nebraska. With games coming up against Penn State and Minnesota, the Buckeyes will need to keep this type of play going to get back up the conference standings.

Muhammad and Washington could potentially be available on Saturday against the Nittany Lions, and the Buckeyes now have a plan for how they can make a resurgence after a skid early in the year, but Walker said they're just enjoying the return to the victory column right now.

"It feels good. It feels good to be back on the winning side, being able to make those runs we haven't been able to make those last four games," Walker said. "It just feels really good to be back on top and win."