Chris Holtmann didn’t know Malaki Branham had 35 points against Nebraska until after the game.

The day after, as he gave his weekly updates on his radio show, the Ohio State head coach was still impressed by the freshman guard’s performance.

“It’s a pretty remarkable game for a freshman,” he said.

But what worked for Branham Sunday night was just him taking what the Cornhuskers defense was giving him, something the head coach warned him of heading into Ohio State’s first game in over three weeks.

“We said, ‘Hey, there’s going to be some clean, open looks you guys are going to get,’ and he was ready and he was aggressive in his shot prep was exceptional,” Holtmann said. “Our guys did a great job finding him when he ran the floor. Once he made a few shots, it gave him an aggressiveness.”

Holtmann said Branham had a good feel for using junior forward E.J. Liddell as a screener, forcing Nebraska to make a decision on how they would defend Ohio State in those situations.

And it’s something the head coach doesn’t expect to go away, showing confidence with each shot made as a jumper or from 3 coming off ball screens, but also expecting an ability to drive with his 6-foot-5, 180-pound frame.

It was something Nebraska couldn’t stop Sunday night.

Branham led Ohio State with 35 points, making 13 of his 19 attempts from the floor with six 3-point makes on 10 chances. No player in an Ohio State uniform has scored more points in a Big Ten game since 2000.

Branham was named as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week for his performance against Nebraska. He's the first freshman honored since D.J. Carton Dec. 23, 2019.

His 35 points are the most by an Ohio State freshman since Jared Sullinger scored 40 against IUPUI in 2010. His six 3-pointers tie Ohio State's freshman record for the most in a single game.

But Branham is young. He’s the youngest on the team, asked to take on a prominent and starting role for Ohio State.

He’s shown a lack of consistency, coming off a zero-point, four-turnover performance against Wisconsin Dec. 11. But Holtmann said Branham’s ability to balance the highs and lows of success and failures as a freshman will only make him better.

“He may not have another game where he scores 25 or more this year. He might. He certainly has our permission to, that’s for sure. But who knows whether he will or not,” Holtmann said. “It’s a hard thing to do. But I do know that he's going to have other big nights where he’s going to play very well. He’ll also have other nights where he struggles like a freshman struggles. How you handle both of those is important.”

Holtmann called Ohio State “dead-legged” Sunday night against Nebraska.

He felt rust was a concern against the Cornhuskers, saying he was worried coming in about the pace they played. And it was noticeable, he said, that Ohio State was working its way back after a long layoff.

“We did a little bit of a tally of the shooting of guys who were out with COVID, so they were out for 10 days, vs, the guys who were consistently working,” Holtmann said. “There was a difference there and the numbers were pretty stark.”

Holtmann said Ohio State had only three full days of team practice ahead of its game against Nebraska. It was the Buckeyes’ first full team practices since Dec. 15.

Ohio State was without redshirt senior forward Kyle Young, who was out with a non-COVID-related illness, and is expected back sooner rather than later.

“He’s making great progress, he’s feeling better,” Holtmann said. “I said last night: I think this will be a short-term deal, but we will know more here in the next couple days in practice how he’s feeling. But the reports were that he was feeling much better.”

As for Seth Towns and Justice Sueing, both of whom are battling back after injuries, Holtmann said he would not make any sweeping promises, but to expect both back by the end of the month of January.

Ohio State will take on Indiana in Bloomington Thursday night and return home against Northwestern Sunday, a stretch the head coach calls the toughest of the season up to this point.