Buckeyes Ready for Big Ten Tournament
3/8/2022 11:55:18 PM | Men's Basketball
#-/25 Ohio State vs. Minnesota/Penn State
Date: March 10, 2022
Time: 9 p.m.
Venue: Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, Ind.
Watch: BTN
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Tournament Info: Tournament Central | Bracket
Game Notes: Ohio State | Minnesota | Penn State
Rosters: Ohio State | Minnesota | Penn State
Season Stats: Ohio State | Minnesota | Penn State
COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a bit of a break, Ohio State heads to this week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind., as the No. 6 seed and will play either No. 11 seed Penn State or No. 14 seed Minnesota in the second round on Thursday evening. Tip-off is set for approximately 9 p.m. Brandon Gaudin and Robbie Hummel will call the action on BTN.
- The Buckeyes are 30-16 all-time in Big Ten Tournament games and 14-6 in their opening game of the tournament.
- Ohio State has won four tournament titles, the last of which coming in 2013, and has made nine title game appearances.
- Last year was one of those title game appearances as Ohio State beat Minnesota, Purdue and Michigan before losing to top-seeded Illinois in overtime in the championship game.
- The Buckeyes are coming off a stretch that saw them play seven games in a 16-day span to end the regular season. The team had light walk-though practices during that span and returned to normal practice this week after a day off Monday.
- Ohio State played both Penn State and Minnesota twice during the regular season and won all four meetings.
- E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham each earned All-Big Ten honors this season. Liddell was named to the first team for the second consecutive season while Branham earned third team accolades and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Liddell was also named to the All-Defensive Team while Branham took home All-Freshman Team honors as well.
- Branham is the eighth Buckeye to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the first since D’Angelo Russell in 2015. Branham has scored in double figures in each of the last eight games and is averaging 20.0 ppg over that stretch.
- E.J. Liddell has scored in double figures in each of the last 40 games and is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.4 ppg. He also leads the Big Ten and is 19th nationally in blocks shots with 76.
- Joey Brunk stepped into a starting role the last two games for the injured Zed Key and has played well. He scored a season-high 18 points in the win over MSU and is shooting 68.8 percent (11-of-16) over the last two games.
- Jamari Wheeler has made 10 of his last 17 three-point attempts (.588) over the last four games and is averaging 10.5 ppg in those games.
- The Buckeyes are one win away from a 20-win season for the fifth consecutive year. They would be just one of three Power 5 teams (Oregon & Kansas) to record 20 wins each of the last five years. Head coach Chris Holtmann’s teams have won 20 or more games in each of the last eight years.
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