Buckeyes Enter Crucial Final Week at Northwestern Wednesday Night

Starting Five

• Ohio State is 105-109 all-time when playing in the state of Illinois. The Buckeyes first played in Illinois at the University of Chicago Feb. 8, 1913, a 29-20 win for the Buckeyes. Ohio State has won at least one game in Illinois in 14 of the last 17 years and has played at least one game in the Land of Lincoln in each of the last 17 years. Ohio State will play at least four games in Illinois this season after defeating Illinois at the United Center in Chicago, 77-67, Dec. 5, 2018, UCLA, again at the United Center, 80-66, Dec. 22, vs. Northwestern Wednesday and then again back at the United Center in the Big Ten Tournament the week of March 11. The Buckeyes have not played in Evanston since Jan. 6, 2016 after playing in Rosemont, Illinois, a season ago while Welsh-Ryan Arena was undergoing renovations. It’s been 1,156 days, a day more than 38 months since Ohio State took the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Buckeyes have won 11 of last 12 vs. the Wildcats in Evanston (10-1) and Rosemont (1-0).
• Six Buckeyes are shooting better than 70 percent from the foul line this season. Freshman Luther Muhammad upped his foul shooting percentage with a 7-of-8 effort at Nebraska and an 8-for-8 outing vs. Penn State. He is shooting at a 77 percent clip to date (51-66). Guards C.J. Jackson and Keyshawn Woods shoot 79 and 83 percent, respectively. Brothers Kaleb Wesson (73 percent) and Andre Wesson (74 percent) join freshman Jaedon LeDee (74 percent) in the frontcourt.
• With 253 wins in the last nine seasons (2010-19), Ohio State already has more victories this decade than in any other in the program’s history. Ohio State won 189 games from 1980-1989 and 188 contests from 1960-69. The winning percentage of .723 (253-97/350) in the last 10 years is the best previous winning percentage in a decade in Ohio State history. The win total is No. 13 nationally over the last 10 seasons and second only to Michigan State’s 261 wins among Big Ten teams.
• The Buckeyes have four wins in nine tries in 2018-19 vs. teams that made the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Ohio State defeated two of those teams on the road (Cincinnati, 64-56/Creighton, 69-60), lost at No. 5 Michigan (65-49), at No. 11 Michigan State (62-44) and at No. 14 Purdue (86-51) and took down UCLA (80-66) on a neutral court. At home, the Buckeyes fell vs. Syracuse (L, 72-62), No. 8 Michigan State (86-77) and Purdue (79-67) and have a win over Bucknell (W, 73-71).
• Ohio State will played nine games against teams among the Associated Press Top 25 or receiving votes for Top 25 consideration. Five of those games were played away from Value City Arena. The Buckeyes face(d) No. 9 Michigan State (home/away), No. 7 Michigan (away), No. 11 Purdue (home/away), No. 24 Maryland (home/away), No. 21 Wisconsin (home, March 10) and No. 20 Cincinnati (away) among teams currently in the Top 25.

Notable Numbers
C.J. Jackson reached 100 career 3-pointers made with three makes vs. Cleveland State (11/23/18) … for his Ohio State career he is (140-379/.369) from distance … has scored 940 career points after a two-point effort at Purdue and is working to become Ohio State’s next 1,000-point scorer … Kyle Young, who missed four games with a stress fracture in his right leg, is 69-of-95 shooting this season (.726) … he returned to action vs. Penn State Feb. 7 after suffering the injury vs. Maryland Jan. 18 … Joey Lane has appeared in 13 games this season and is 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range … he also has six rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals in 2.7 minutes per game.

The Ohio State vs. Northwestern Series
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Northwestern 119-46. The Buckeyes are 69-15 in Columbus and 49-31 in Evanston. The teams have met just once on a neutral court, an Ohio State win. C.J. Jackson averages 8.0 points in three meetings against the Wildcats. He averages 4.3 rebounds as well. Kaleb Wesson averages 15 points and seven boards in two games vs. the Wildcats.

Scouting the Wildcats
Vic Law leads a trio of Wildcats in double figures offensively with a team-leading 15.3 points a game. Dererk Pardon contributes 13.9 ppg. ahead of Ryan Taylor’s 10.3 ppg. Pardon provides a team-high 7.9 rebounds a game. Northwestern enters the game with a 12-17 overall record. The Wildcats are 3-15 in Big Ten Conference play with losses in their last 10 league outings.  

Ohio State vs. the Big Ten
The Buckeyes own an overall record of 825-727 against current league members. Chris Holtmann is new to the Big Ten but no stranger to Big Ten competition. He faced six league opponents during his six years as a head coach prior to taking over for the Buckeyes last year. He entered his first year of Big Ten competition with a 4-5 record vs. conference foes. He is 27-21 vs. conference opponents in eight years as a head coach.