Ohio State never set a goal going into this men’s basketball season of being first in margin of victory, although the Buckeyes added to their nation’s leading average with a blowout of Nebraska

The Buckeyes simply headed to Lincoln seeking victory and defensive consistency. They got both in a dominant 79-45 win before a Saturday night crowd of 12,214 in NU’s Devaney Center.

The homestanding Cornhuskers (10-9, 2-6) were coming off their second and highest-profile win since joining the Big Ten last year as they tripped up No. 11 Indiana on Wednesday night. But the follow-up brought only frustration and offensive ineptitude as they failed to solve OSU’s aggressive defense and made just 13 field goals in 44 attempts for a woeful shooting percentage of 29.5.

No NU player managed to reach double figures in points as forward Brandon Ubel and guard Bo Spencer had eight apiece.

Conversely, the Buckeyes (17-3, 5-2) were able to turn over their host 27 times and convert those miscues into 22 points. They were led by William Buford’s 15 points while frontline starters Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas had 14 each.

Buford led an 8-for-21 effort from behind the arc with three triples in five attempts. In fact, he opened up OSU’s scoring with a three. The Buckeyes assisted half of their 26 baskets and matched that number with 13 steals, including three from Sullinger.

Ohio State, which beat Nebraska by 31 points at home earlier in the month, moved into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with Michigan and Michigan State.

The Buckeyes entered town just 2-3 in road games this season, and had to fight from behind at South Carolina. In the league, OSU lost at Indiana and in similar fashion at Illinois, although in between they posted a 29-point win at Iowa.

OSU has won by 10 or more points in 15 of its 17 victories this season and has an average margin of victory of 22.0 points per game.

The Buckeyes led 12-8 early with all five starters already in the scoring column – Buford and Aaron Craft with threes, and Sullinger, Thomas and Lenzelle Smith Jr. with two-point field goals. Evan Ravenel was first off the bench and drew a foul with the Buckeyes up 15-8 and split a pair of free throws to give OSU six scorers.

Meanwhile, the ’Huskers suffered a pair of eight-minute droughts without a made field goal. They were just 7 for 28 from the field in the first half and trailed 36-20 at the break. The Buckeyes built on the lead from there and head coach Thad Matta was able to empty his bench with Ravenel, Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott each logging at least 14 minutes.

They led 56-28 with 12 minutes to go, causing the majority of the crowd to begin heading for the exits.

Guard Jordan Sibert scored seven points off the bench to tie Ravenel for most by a reserve but the sophomore’s shooting slump continued as he was just 1 for 5 from the field.

The Buckeyes also got just two points from Smith, who was coming off a career-high output of 28 points in a home win over Indiana last Sunday.

Ohio State has a pair of home games with week as it hosts Penn State on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. Eastern, Big Ten Network) and Michigan on Sunday (1 p.m. Eastern, CBS).