No. 5 Buckeyes, No. 6 Wildcats to Meet Saturday in Las Vegas
12/19/2019 10:46:25 AM | Men's Basketball
Ohio State Men's Basketball Gameday March 12, 2020
Opponent vs. Purdue (16-15)
Site Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,500)
Time 6:30 p.m. ET
Television BTN | BTN Plus
Talent Kevin Kugler (Play-By-Play)
Stephen Bardo (Expert Analysis)
Rick Pizzo (Sideline)
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Radio Talent Paul Keels (Play-By-Play)
Ron Stokes (Expert Analysis)
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Starting Five
- The Buckeyes are 1,157-415 all-time when playing in the state of Ohio (.736) … against Ohio teams, Ohio State is 237-79 (.749) all-time, regardless of location. The Buckeyes faced a pair of intrastate foes this season. Ohio State defeated Cincinnati Nov. 6 at Value City Arena (64-56) and then Kent State Nov. 25 at St. John Arena (W, 72-51). Ohio State is 179-30 vs. Ohio teams in Columbus (.856). In the state of Nevada, Ohio State is 1-1 all-time. The No. 7 Buckeyes defeated No. 12 Georgetown 71-60 at the Thomas and Mack Center on the UNLV campus Dec. 22, 1990 and then fell to No. 2 UCLA Dec. 17, 2016 in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena.
- Three current Buckeyes were named Mr. Basketball in their respective states. Junior Kaleb Wesson was named Ohio Mr. Basketball as a senior at Westerville South High School … freshman D.J. Carton was named Mr. Basketball in Iowa in 2019 as a senior at Bettendorf High School and freshman E.J. Liddell was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in both 2018 and 2019 after leading Belleville High School to back-to-back state titles.
- Andre and Kaleb Wesson are one of 16 sets of brothers playing in NCAA Division I this season and one of three sets in the Big Ten. Iowa (McCaffery) and Maryland (Mitchell) also have siblings on the roster.
- Ohio State has 58 players all-time with 1,000 or more career points, the ninth most nationally and the most of any Big Ten school (research credit: Duke). Kaleb Wesson is the next Buckeye on schedule to reach the milestone with 963 career points over his career.
- Locking down the opponent’s leading scorer has been key to Ohio State’s success this season. The Buckeyes’ 11 opponents’ leading scorers have shot 32% (41-128) from the field and 24.4% (11-45) from 3-point range. Ohio State has limited the group, which is averaging 15.1 points per game on the year, to 10.3 ppg.
Off the Bench
- In the first NCAA NET rankings of the year, released Monday, Ohio State was rated the No. 1 team nationally after its 9-1 start. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 1 in the first NET rankings a year ago as well. This year, Ohio State is 2-1 in Quad 1 games with a total of 17 Quad 1 (10) and Quad 2 (7) games remaining on the schedule.
- When the No. 5 Buckeyes tip vs. the No. 6 Wildcats Saturday in Las Vegas, the Wesson family will reach 300 games played as Buckeyes. Keith Wesson, who lettered for Ohio State from 1983-87, played in 115 games. Senior Andre Wesson has appeared in 107 games while junior Kaleb Wesson has taken the court as a Buckeye 76 times. In 298 games played, the Wessons have scored 1,860 points for an average of 6.2 a game.
- In three seasons as Ohio State head coach, Chris Holtmann teams have made 10 or more 3s 20 times (14-6 rcd.). Ohio State made 10+ from distance five times in 2017-18 and posted a 4-1 record in those games. The Buckeyes were 5-5 in 2018-19 and are 5-0 this year when make 10+ 3-pointers.
- The Buckeyes have made 30 or more field goal attempts six times this year (6-0) after doing so three times a season ago (3-0). Chris Holtmann Ohio State teams have scored 30 or more FGs in 21 games during his tenure (20-1) after doing so 12 times in his first year (12-1). Ohio State has won its last eight games when reach at least 30 FGs made.
- Ohio State has won its last three home games by 32 or more points with wins over Morgan State (90-57, +33), Penn State (106-74, +32) and Southeast Missouri State (80-48, +32). The last time the Buckeyes downed three-consecutive home opponents by 32 or more points was in 2014 vs. North Carolina A&T (97-55, +42), Miami, Ohio (93-55, +38) and Wright State (100-55, +45). Ohio State, 9-0 at home, has downed the last eight opponents by at least 19 points and own six wins by 25 or more. The Buckeyes have a scoring margin of 32 or more points in 48 wins in Value City Arena History.
Kaleb Wesson Nears Exclusive Club
Ohio State junior Kaleb Wesson is close to entering both the 1,000 career point and 500 career rebound club with 963 points and 484 boards. Wesson would become the 29th Buckeye all-time with both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career.
The Ohio State vs. Kentucky Series
Ohio State and Kentucky are meeting for the 21st time with the Wildcats holding an 11-9 record vs. the Buckeyes to date. Ohio State leads the series 6-3 in neutral-site games with the last such meeting going the way of the Buckeyes Dec. 19, 2015 in Brooklyn, New York, as part of the CBSSports Classic. Ohio State, unranked at the time, knocked off No. 4 Kentucky 74-67. The game Saturday will be the first in the last five meetings that one of the teams was outside the Top 5. In the last four games, UK has been ranked No. 5, 3, 11 and 4. Ohio State was No. 1 in 2011 in a 62-60 loss in the NCAA East Regional Semifinals in Newark, New Jersey. Ohio State defeated the Wildcats in three-consecutive NCAA Mideast Regional from 1961, ’62 and 68. The Buckeyes advanced to the Final Four each of those seasons, making it to the title game in both ’61 and ’62.
Ohio State vs. the Southeastern Conference
Ohio State is 38-35 all-time vs. the current alignment of the Southeastern Conference. Ohio State last faced an SEC opponent Dec. 17, 2011 at South Carolina, a 74-66 win for the No. 2 Buckeyes.
Buckeyes Open 121st Season, 108th in B1G
This is the 108th season of Big Ten membership in men’s basketball for the Buckeyes and the 121st overall for the sport at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 99-21 in season openers and 102-17 in the first home game of the season. Ohio State is 56-63 in the first true road game of the year. In Big Ten Conference play, the Buckeyes are 59-46 in league openers, 73-33 in the first conference home game of the season and 39-67 in league road openers. Ohio State is 41-20 when the first conference game of the year is at home and 19-26 when opening conference play on the road.
