No. 8 Ohio State 70, Nebraska 44: Deshaun Thomas scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 17 as the host Buckeyes open Big Ten play with a blowout.

Thomas also grabbed eight rebounds for Ohio State (11-2), which has won six straight meetings against the Cornhuskers.

Ray Gallegos scored 14 points to lead Nebraska (9-5). No other Cornhusker was in double figures.

Nebraska held its only lead at 3-2, but the Buckeyes reeled off an 8-0 run and didn't trail again. Ohio State closed the half on a 16-2 spurt to widen the margin to 36-17, as Thomas outscored the Cornhuskers over the first 20 minutes.

Ohio State's Aaron Craft was held scoreless but dished out eight assists and had three steals. Craft moved into second on the Buckeyes' all-time list with 193 steals and jumped two spots to fifth in school history with 423 assists.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nebraska C Andre Almeida left in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. With Almeida out, the Cornhuskers used just a six-man rotation. … Ohio State improved to 53-44 all-time in Big Ten openers, 67-30 in Big Ten home openers and 38-16 when opening Big Ten play at home. … The Buckeyes have beaten the Cornhuskers by an average of 30.3 points in three meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.