Schedule Set for 2016-17 Buckeyes
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 25, 2016
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s 2016-17 men’s basketball schedule was finalized Thursday by the Big Ten Conference Office. The Buckeyes will play an exhibition game Nov. 6 vs. Walsh before the season opener at Navy Nov. 11. The league schedule begins for Ohio State Jan. 1, 2017 at Illinois. Game times and television designations will be announced at a later date.
Thad Matta begins his 13th season as head coach of the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s all-time winningest coach has won five regular-season Big Ten titles and four conference tournament championships during his tenure.
The Buckeyes return a veteran lineup in 2016-17 led by senior Marc Loving and juniors Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Trevor Thompson and Kam Williams. Sophomore JaQuan Lyle, who started 31 of 35 games a year ago as a freshman, also returns. In all, Ohio State returns its top six scorers and five of the team’s top rebounders. The top returning offensive players have played in a combined 366 games with 172 starts.
Tate spent the offseason rehabilitating a shoulder injury that cost him the final seven games of his sophomore season. He will be ready to go when practice officially starts at the end of September.
Ohio State will play three of its first four Big Ten games on the road and will finish with three of the final four league games in Columbus.
Noting Ohio State’s 2016-17 Schedule
• Ohio State will open the 2016-17 season on the road for the first time since the 2003-04 season and for the first time in the Thad Matta Era at Ohio State. The Buckeyes face Navy in the 2016 Veterans Classic Nov. 11 in Annapolis, Maryland.
• The Buckeyes will play host to the Global Sports Invitational in November. The event features four games, all in Columbus. Ohio State will play North Carolina Central (Nov. 14), Western Carolina (Nov. 21), Jackson State (Nov. 23) and Marshall (Nov. 25).
• The Buckeyes will again take part in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Ohio State will travel to Virginia Nov. 30. The game vs. the Cavaliers tips at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.
• The Buckeyes will take part in the second edition of the Gavitt Tipoff Games this season. Ohio State is playing in the event, which pits Big Ten teams vs. Big East opponents, for the first time and will host Providence Nov. 17.
• Ohio State will face UCLA this year in Las Vegas Dec. 17. The game is part of the CBSSports Classic. This is the third year of the event, which features Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State and UCLA. The Buckeyes are 1-1 to date with a win over No. 4 Kentucky last year and a loss to UNC in 2014.
• The Buckeyes will have 19 home games in 2016-17 plus an exhibition contest vs. Walsh Nov. 6.
• Eight Big Ten Conference opponents take on the Buckeyes once this year. Ohio State travels only to Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Penn State. Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers travel only to Columbus. Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin take on the Buckeyes both home and away.
• Ohio State will play 13 regular-season games against 10 teams that advanced to NCAA Tournament play in 2016. Six of those games will be on the road vs. Maryland, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan and Virginia. The Buckeyes face Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana and Providence at home.
Noting 2016-17 Ohio State Basketball
• Chris Jent returns to the Ohio State sidelines for his second stint as an assistant coach with Thad Matta. Jent left the Buckeyes following the 2012-13 season to take an assistant position with the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association. Jent returned to Columbus after Jeff Boals left the Buckeyes to become the head coach at Stony Brook University following the 2015-16 season.
• Alan Major, another former Matta assistant, also returned to the Ohio State men’s basketball program after leaving the Buckeyes following the 2009-10 season to become the head coach at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Major spent five seasons as the head coach with the 49ers. He fills a new position on the Ohio State support staff this year as the director of recruiting and player development.
• Ohio State has won at least 10 Big Ten regular season games (11-7 in 2016) over the last 11 seasons, the longest streak in school history and the longest streak among Big Ten schools over Thad Matta’s 12-year tenure with the Buckeyes. Wisconsin (12-6 in conference play last year) has a streak of 10-consecutive seasons with 10+ victories in regular season league play.
• Thad Matta is No. 13 all-time in career Big Ten regular-season victories … Matta owns 143 career league triumphs. He is tied with Harold “Bud” Foster (WIS 1935-59) who also won 143 league encounters. The No. 12 spot is held by former Ohio State coach Harold Olsen (1923-46). He won 154 league games over his tenure.
• Among all-time head coaches in NCAA Division I, Matta has the third best record over the course of his first 16 years as a head coach with an overall record of 422-139 (.752). Mark Few (Gonzaga, 2000-2015) tops that list with a 438-103 (.810) record with Roy Williams (Kansas/North Carolina, 1989-2004)) No. 2 with a 437-112 (.796) slate.
• Redshirt junior Kam Williams led he Big Ten during conference play a year ago in 3-point shooting percentage, knocking down 51.5 percent of his long range attempts (34-66). Over his first two seasons (2015-16), junior Jae’Sean Tate is No. 2 nationally in field goal percentage by a player 6-feet-4 or shorter. Tate has connected on 261-473 from the field (.552).
2016-17 Ohio State men’s Basketball Schedule
DATE OPPONENT
November
6-Sun. Walsh (Exh.)
11-Fri. 1-at Navy
14-Mon. 2-North Carolina Central
17-Thurs. 3-Providence
21-Mon. 2-Western Carolina
23-Wed. 2-Jackson State
25-Fri. 2-Marshall
30-Wed. 4-at Virginia
December
3-Sat. Fairleigh Dickinson
6-Tues. Florida Atlantic
10-Sat. Connecticut
17-Sat. 5-vs. UCLA
20-Tues. Youngstown State
22-Thurs. UNC-Asheville
January
1-Sun. at Illinois
5-Thurs. Purdue
8-Sun. at Minnesota
12-Thurs. at Wisconsin
15-Sun. Michigan State
18-Wed. at Nebraska
22-Sun. Northwestern
25-Wed. Minnesota
28-Sat. at Iowa
31-Tues. Maryland
February
4-Sat. at Michigan
8-Wed. Rutgers
11-Sat. at Maryland
14-Tues. at Michigan State
18/19-Sat./Sun. Nebraska
23-Thurs. Wisconsin
28-Tues. at Penn State
March
4-Sat. Indiana
8-12-Wed.-Sun 6-at Big Ten Tournament
Home games in Bold // 1-Veterans Classic, Annapolis, Maryland // 2-Global Sports Invitational, Columbus, Ohio // 3-Gavitt Tipoff Games, Columbus, Ohio // 4-Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Charlottesville, Virginia // 5- CBSSports Classic, Las Vegas, Nevada // 6-Big Ten Tournament, Washington, D.C.
