Behind large scoring runs, the Buckeyes were able to even their record in Big Ten play.

No. 25 Ohio State (8-2, 2-2) defeated Nebraska (4-6, 0-3) 90-54 at the Schottenstein Center behind a season-high 18 points from junior forward Justin Ahrens.

The Buckeyes shot 49.2% and finished the first half on a 25-8 scoring run. The Cornhuskers, led by second-year head coach Fred Hoiberg, made just one of their final 18 field goals in the opening half.

The Buckeyes looked for redemption after dropping a seven-point halftime lead and losing by a point at Northwestern on Saturday. They would do so without redshirt-junior guard Musa Jallow, who was unavailable due to contact tracing and sophomore center Ibrahima Diallo, who was on the bench with street clothes and crutches.

"I felt really good out there," Ahrens said. "Kind of a slower first half, but I thought we played really well. The whole group was locked in defensively."

E.J. Liddell won the opening tip for the Buckeyes, and Kyle Young missed a shot down low to get things started.

Young redeemed himself on the next possession, putting up the game’s first two points down low again. The Huskers answered back as guard Dalano Banton made a layup of his own. Young scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

The teams were tied 6-6 in the opening 4:24, and Zed Key and Jimmy Sotos were the first substitutions for Ohio State. Sotos saw an uptick in minutes in the absence of Jallow, and had two points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.

Key quickly scored six points down low to give the Buckeyes a 15-13 lead with 11:23 to go. He also brought down two boards in his first 4:13 off the bench. The freshman scored 14 points on perfect 5-5 shooting at the end of the game.

Liddell notched a steal and dropped a 3-pointer right after, marking his second of the season and first in conference play.

Seth Towns checked in with just under eight minutes to go, and buried a 3-pointer on the first possession. Sueing made a steal and continued the Buckeyes scoring run of 15-0.

Nebraska’s Shamiel Stevenson made a free throw with 7:08 left in the first half to snap the Huskers’ scoring drought that spanned 6:07, but the team still went 10:14 without a field goal. Guard Trey McGowens ended the drought with a 3-pointer with just over three minutes left in the half.

Just before the end of the half, Sueing found an opening and drained his first 3-pointer since the loss at Purdue, a span of three games. The redshirt-junior scored 12 points and recorded six rebounds.

"I definitely had a couple struggles through the past couple games," Sueing said. "It's just adjusting to the Big Ten style of play. I knew I was going to have some adversity, but nonetheless, I'm going to continue to work for it."

The Buckeyes took a 38-21 lead into halftime, and the Huskers came out of the break with an and-one from McGowens.

The Buckeyes benched got fired up after Liddell drove inside and slammed the ball into the basket early in the second half.

Duane Washington Jr. followed the dunk with his first 3-pointer of the game, then made his second on the next possession.

Ohio State went on another doubt-digit scoring run, putting up 12-consecutive points before Nebraska guard Kobe Webster made a jumper with 14:13 to go.

The Buckeyes entered the bonus for final 15:42 of the game and made six free throws thereafter. Every player who saw time on the court brought down at least one rebound.

Runs of nine and seven points continued as the Huskers couldn't get a bucket to drop. Nebraska scored 25 points in the final nine minutes of the game, and were led by junior guard Teddy Allen, who scored 13 points.

"It was a really solid performance by our guys," head coach Chris Holtmann said. "I thought we were able to defend them with great purpose, had really good technique, certainly made some shots but I thought our ball movement was exceptional."

Ahrens found his rhythm and sunk three 3-pointers in the game's final six. Walk-ons Harrison Hoofkin and Jansen Davidson Jr. also saw action as the former accrued five minutes and the latter four.

Ohio State will travel to Minnesota for a Sunday game with the Golden Gophers at 5:30.