No. 11 Ohio State 63, Nebraska 56: Lenzelle Smith Jr. went 6-for-6 from the field en route to a game-high 21 points as the visiting Buckeyes held off the Cornhuskers.

Deshaun Thomas scored 15 points and Aaron Craft added 14 and six assists for Ohio State (17-4, 7-2 Big Ten), which has won four straight.

David Rivers scored 13 points and Dylan Talley had 12 for the Cornhuskers (11-12, 2-8), who shot 37.1 percent from the field and went 6-for-26 from 3-point range.

Both schools struggled from the floor in the first half but the Buckeyes went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line while Nebraska failed to get to the stripe, leading to a 32-23 Ohio State lead at the break. The Cornhuskers missed seven straight shots at one point as the Buckeyes turned a two-point deficit into a 30-19 edge.

Ohio State pushed the lead to as much as 53-38 with 9:05 to play before Nebraska battled back. Rivers scored six points during a 15-5 run, including two free throws that cut it to 58-53 with 2:40 left, before the Buckeyes sealed it at the free-throw line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ohio State has the roughest part of its schedule coming up this week with dates against No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Indiana. … Nebraska is averaging 54.8 points in conference play. … Cornhuskers leading scorer Ray Gallegos was held to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-12 from beyond the arc.