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Braden Frager scored 15 points off the bench and No. 10 Nebraska held off a late Ohio State rally to win 72-69 Monday night.
Rienk Mast added 12 points while Jamarques Lawrence and Pryce Sandfort each had 11 as the Cornhuskers (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) extended the best start in school history.
John Mobley Jr. led Ohio State (10-4, 2-2) with 22 points. Bruce Thornton scored 16 and Devin Royal added 14.
Playing in the top 10 for the first time since 1966, Nebraska led by 14 in the first half. The Cornhuskers led 38-31 at halftime, but Ohio State took the lead for the first time on a pair of Thornton free throws with 10:24 remaining.
This was the first of eight leadership changes.
The last one came on a Mast basket with 4:39 left. He was fouled during a drive and made the free throw to make it 60-58. That sparked a 9-0 run against Nebraska, but Ohio State came within one on Royal’s layup with 14 seconds left.
Lawrence hit two free throws to cut Nebraska’s lead to three, and Christoph Tilly missed a 3-point attempt for the Buckeyes in the final seconds.
Nebraska won despite shooting 28% from 3 points (8 of 29).
The Huskers were 14 of 17 from the free throw line and had a 38-29 advantage on the boards. They also outscored Ohio State 22-0 in bench points.
Amare Bynum had nine points and nine rebounds for Ohio State, which was trying to earn its first win against a top-10 opponent since beating No. 4 Kentucky on Dec. 21, 2024.
To be continued
Ohio State plays at Oregon on Thursday.
Nebraska plays Indiana on Saturday.
Associated Press reporting.
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