Rienk Mast scored 21 of his career-high 34 points in the second half when Nebraska downed Ohio State 83-69 in Lincoln, Neb., on Tuesday.
Mast, a graduate transfer from Bradley and a member of The Netherlands national team, also set a personal best with six 3-pointers and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten). His previous scoring high was 30 for Bradley.
He scored 18 points and held Zach Edey to 15 points in the 88-72 upset of then-No. 1 Purdue on Jan. 9.
C.J. Wilcher added 16 points for Nebraska, which is 13-1 at home, including 5-0 in conference play.
Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes (13-6, 3-5 Big Ten) with 16 points. Ohio State has lost four of five after a four-game winning streak.
Ohio State inched its way back from an eight-point deficit to start the second half to make it 46-43 but the Cornhuskers regrouped thanks to Mast and stretched the lead to 16 at the 9:51 mark.
Mast set his career high with his fifth 3-pointer to make it 62-49 and added his sixth for a 65-49 advantage.
Nebraska used a 30-13 surge over the final 11:36 for a 43-35 halftime lead.
The Buckeyes couldn’t have asked for a much better start, other than scoring the first 16 points in a win over Penn State on Saturday.
This time, they raced to a 9-0 lead and held the margin, 22-13, with Thornton leading the way with seven points. The Cornhuskers then reeled off six straight points.
A key sequence in the first came when Ohio State’s Dale Bonner was fouled attempting a three-pointer with the Buckeyes trailing 34-32. A 72.7 percent shooter from the line, he missed all three attempts. The Cornhuskers came down the court and Mast buried a step-back triple to make it 37-32 with three minutes left.
The Buckeyes have lost 13 straight road games dating back to a win at Northwestern on Jan. 1, 2023. That’s the next stop for Ohio State on Saturday. The Cornhuskers play at Maryland on Saturday.
–Field Level Media