Buckeyes Make First Trip to Rutgers – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2015
| Rookie Jae’Sean Tate has made 19 of 28 shots (.679) in last three games. |
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No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes (17-6, 6-4) at the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-14, 2-9)
| Date: | Feb. 8, 2015 |
| Site: | Rutgers Athletic Center (8,000) |
| Game Time: | 5:36 p.m. ET |
| Television: | BTN |
| Talent: | Kevin Kugler (Play-By-Play) Joe Crispin (Expert Analysis) |
| Radio: | OSU-IMG Sports Network (56 stations) |
| Satellite Radio: | Sirius 113/XM 195 |
| Local Radio: | WBNS FM-97.1 AM-1460 |
| Radio Talent: | Paul Keels (play-by-play) Ron Stokes (expert analysis) |
Rutgers Meets Ohio State Sunday for 1st Time in Big Ten Play
Since the Big Ten began expanding with the addition of Penn State in 1990, the league added three more teams to the league in Nebraska (2011), Maryland (2015) and Rutgers (2015). The Scarlet Knights and Buckeyes meet for the first time Sunday as Big Ten opponents. Ohio State is 8-5 in first-time meetings with league opponents. The Buckeyes have won the last five such games, including the 80-56 win in Columbus vs. Maryland Jan. 19. Since Thad Matta took over the Ohio State program in 2004-05, he has faced 14 coaches in their first year in league. He is 21-5 vs. first-year Big Ten coaches, which includes a 14-0 record in Columbus. Matta is 7-5 in road games vs. coaches in their first year in the league.
Remaining Game Times Finalized
Game times for Ohio State home games vs. Purdue March 1 and Wisconsin March 8 have been set. The game vs. the Boilermakers will tip at 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 1. The Wisconsin game, the final regular-season game of the year and senior day for Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, Amir Williams, Trey McDonald and Anthony Lee, will tip at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8. Ohio State’s game at Michigan Sunday, Feb. 22, was recently confirmed for a 1 p.m. ET tip.
Russell Adds Another B1G Weekly Honor
After sweeping the Big Ten Freshman and Player of the Week awards a week ago, Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell was named rookie of the week again last week, his fifth of the year. Against Maryland Jan. 29, Russell scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out six assists without a turnover in the Buckeyes’ 80-56 win over the No. 16 Terrapins. A week earlier he averaged 27.5 points after a career-high 33 at Northwestern and a follow-up effort of 22 points and a career-best 10 assists vs. Indiana. Those numbers led to him being named both the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week (1/26/15). Russell’s effort also earned him the NCAA.com, CBSSports.com, Naismith Trophy and Oscar Robertson player of the week accolades.
Wayman Tisdale Watch List Includes Russell
The 2015 Integris Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason Watch List includes 14 players under consideration for the national freshman of the year award. Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell is among the contenders. Russell is the leading freshman scorer in the country at 19.4 ppg. He also is among the leaders in several other categories. He has earned one Big Ten player of the week ward and five league freshman of the week accolades. Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger earned the 2011 Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award following his rookie campaign.
Matta Climbing All-Time Big Ten Wins Chart
Thad Matta has 127 career regular-season wins in Big Ten Conference play to rank No. 15 all-time in Big Ten history. Matta passed Dr. Tom Davis of Iowa (125 wins from 1986-99) with an 82-70 win in Columbus vs. Indiana Jan. 26.
Scouting the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers is the second road game in a stretch of four of five games away from Columbus for the Buckeyes. Ohio State fell to Purdue 60-58 last Wednesday in West Lafayette, Indiana to begin the road run. The Scarlet Knights and the Buckeyes are meeting for the first time as Big Ten foes. Rutgers enters the game with an overall record of 10-14 over and 2-9 in the Big Ten. After defeating league-leading Wisconsin at home Jan. 11, the Scarlet Knights have dropped their last seven conference games after a 2-2 start to league play. Senior Myles Mack, a Paterson, N.J., native, will be making his 100th start in the game vs. the Buckeyes. He leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game. Graduate Kadeem Jack, who like Mack is a four-year performer for the Scarlet Knights, hails from Queens, N.Y. He also contributes double digits offensively and is one of the team’s leading rebounders at 6.4 boards per game. Sophomore Junior Etou, a native of the Congo, leads the team on the glass with 6.7 rebounds a contest.
The Ohio State vs. Rutgers Series
Ohio State and Rutgers, meeting for the first time as Big Ten Conference members, have met once previously, a 97-96 win for the Scarlet Knights Dec. 30, 1978 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game was part of the ECAC Holiday Tournament. Kelvin Ransey scored 38 points in that game while Herb Williams tallied 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Buckeyes. James Bailey led Rutgers with 31 points.
Ohio State vs. The Big Ten
Ohio State is in its 103rd season as a member of the Big Ten Conference in 2014-15. The Buckeyes own an overall record of 777-689 against current league members. Thad Matta, in 15 seasons as a head coach, owns an overall record of 151-67 vs. league members, including a mark of 147-63 while coaching the Buckeyes.
Noting the Purdue Game
• Purdue leads Ohio State, 84-82, in the all-time series. Ohio State has won the six of the last seven meetings.
• The Boilermakers are 55-26 vs. the Buckeyes in West Lafayette. Ohio State last lost to Purdue on the road Feb. 20, 2011, a 76-63 loss for the No. 2 Buckeyes against the No. 11 Boilermakers.
• As a ranked team, the Buckeyes are 27-5 vs. the Boilermakers with wins in 11 of the last 14 meetings when ranked among the Associated Press Top 25. The last time a ranked Ohio State team was defeated by an unranked Purdue squad was March 6, 1991. The No. 2 Buckeyes dropped a 72-67 decision to the unranked Boilermakers at Purdue.
• Two players scored in double figures for the Buckeyes: D’Angelo Russell (20) and Amir Williams (10).
• The game featured 12 lead changes and five tie scores.
• Ohio State recorded nine team steals vs. the Boilermakers, with five Buckeyes registering steals.
• The Buckeyes were outrebounded 33-31 by the Boilermakers.
• Ohio State scored 17 points off 13 Purdue turnovers.
• The Buckeyes outscored the Boilermakers, 17-12, in second chance points.
• The Buckeyes are 1-6 when trailing at the half this season. Ohio State trailed Purdue 27-26 at the half.
• Ohio State’s bench outscored the Purdue bench, 15-9.
• The Buckeyes own an overall record of 777-689 against current members of the Big Ten Conference.
• Thad Matta is 292-89 during his career at Ohio State and 394-120 overall as a head coach.
• Matta is 152-67 overall vs. Big Ten opponents, including a mark of 148-63 while coaching the Buckeyes.
• The Buckeyes are 50-25 during February in the Matta era.
• With Matta at the helm, Ohio State is 17-7 vs. Purdue.
• Matta teams are 5-4 at Mackey Arena.
• D’Angelo Russell tallied a team-high 20 points, scoring 20+ points for the tenth time this season. Russell has scored in double figures 22 out of 23 games this season.
• Russell accounted for seven rebounds vs. the Boilermakers.
• Russell dished five assists, totaling 119 assists this season, while earning two steals.
• Shannon Scott dished two assists vs. Purdue and remains fifth in Ohio State history with 468 assists. He needs 8 to pass Curtis Wilson (475) for No. 4.
• Scott recorded one steal vs. the Boilermakers and is ranked No. 3 all-time on Ohio State’s all-time steals list with 196 thefts. Scott needs four more steals this season to become the third Buckeye all-time to reach 200 steals in a career and 9 more to pass Jay Burson for No. 2 in program history (204).
• Sam Thompson recorded a team-best four steals vs. the Boilermakers.
• Thompson notched three blocks for the Buckeyes. He has 99 career blocks.
• Thompson scored nine points, collected five rebounds and dished three assists vs. Purdue.
• Amir Williams recorded one block vs. the Boilermakers. With 175 blocks for his career, he ranks fifth on Ohio State’s all-time list for blocked shots acquired in a career. He needs 13 more to surpass Brad Sellers for the No. 4 spot.
• A. Williams scored 10 points vs. the Boilermakers, adding to his 597 career points.
• Jae’Sean Tate scored eight points on 4-8 shooting, while pulling down six boards for the Buckeyes.
• Kam Williams posted a career-high four rebounds and tallied one steal vs. the Boilermakers.
For more on the Buckeyes click on the Ohio State Notes link above.
