No. 14 Ohio State Welcomes No. 8 Michigan State to Columbus Saturday Afternoon

Starting Five

• The Ohio State men’s basketball team traveled to Spain for 11 days over the summer. The Buckeyes played a total of three games, one in each stop during the trip, which began Aug. 1 with a flight to Madrid. Three days were spent in Madrid (W, 93-61 vs. Madrid Generals), Valencia (W, 95-63 vs. Valencia All-Stars) and Barcelona (W, 68-66 vs. Catalan All-Stars) before the team returned to Columbus Aug. 11. The team also experienced several cultural tours, team meals and excursions.
• Just one Ohio State opponent has made more than 24 field goals this season in a game vs. the Buckeyes. Opponents are shooting 38.2 percent from the field against the Ohio State defense (280-733). Foes are connecting on just 29.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (79-270).
• Ohio State is ranked No. 14/12 in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. The Buckeyes are 16-6 all-time when ranked in the No. 14 position and are 511-149 when ranked among the Top 25 in the AP poll. The Buckeyes were 10-5 as a ranked team in 2017-18. Ohio State was ranked No. 17 in the final game of the season vs. No. 6 Gonzaga a year ago in the NCAA Tournament (L, 90-84).
• The Buckeyes have four wins in five 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) and took down UCLA (80-66) on a neutral court while splitting at home vs. Syracuse (L, 72-62) and Bucknell (W, 73-71). Ohio State has at least five games remaining vs. teams that made the 2018 NCAA Tournament: Purdue (2), Michigan State (2) and Michigan.
• Ohio State will play 11 games against teams among the Associated Press Top 25 or receiving votes for Top 25 consideration. Seven of those games will be played away from Value City Arena. The Buckeyes face No. 2 Michigan (away), No. 8 Michigan State (home/away), No. 22 Wisconsin (home), No. 24 Nebraksa (away), No. 25 Iowa (home/away) and No. 21 Indiana (away). Among teams receiving votes, Ohio State faces Purdue (home/away) and Cincinnati (W-Away).

Kaleb Wesson Earns First B1G POW Honor
Sophomore Kaleb Wesson averaged 23 points and 9.5 rebounds in wins over Youngstown State and vs. UCLA to earn his first Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honor Dec. 24, 2018. Wesson scored a career-high 31 points vs. the Penguins and then added 15 points and a career-best 12 rebounds in the win over UCLA in the CBSSports Classic in Chicago last Saturday.

Wesson connected on 60 percent of his field goal attempts for the week (15-25) and on 71 percent from the foul line (15-21). He also added five assists. Of his 19 total rebounds, 11 were on the offensive end.

The honor is the first for the Westerville South alum and the first for the Buckeyes since Keita Bates-Diop earned the recognition, his fourth of the 2017-18 season, Feb. 5, 2018 after Ohio State wins over Illinois and Indiana.

Early Notable Numbers
C.J. Jackson is averaging 13.6 points a game and has the Buckeyes off to a 12-1 start … he reached 100 career 3-pointers made with three makes vs. Cleveland State (11/23/18) … for his Ohio State career he is (116-313/.371) from distance … has scored 784 career points after a 20-point effort vs. High Point and is on pace to become Ohio State’s next 1,000-point scorer … Kyle Young is 39-for-56 shooting this season (.696) … Joey Lane has appeared in seven games this season and is 4-5 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range … he also has five rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals in 3.6 minutes per game … Keyshawn Woods has 44 assists with just eight turnovers this season, that assist to turnover ratio is rates No. 22 nationally (3.38).

The Ohio State vs. Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes 68-57. Ohio State owns a 37-23 record in Columbus and is 17-41 in East Lansing. The teams have played on a neutral court seven times with the Spartans winning four. When ranked among the Associated Press Top 25, the Buckeyes are 22-13. Michigan State is 22-10 vs. ranked Ohio State teams. When both teams carry a Top 25 ranking into the matchup, Ohio State is 7-8. The last time both teams were ranked when facing one another was Jan. 12, 2014 in East Lansing. The No. 3 Spartans needed overtime to down the No. 5 Buckeyes 72-68. Ohio State was unranked a season ago when it won at home vs. the No. 1 Spartans, 80-64, Jan. 7, 2018. C.J. Jackson and Andre Wesson each have faced Michigan State three times in their careers to lead the Buckeyes in appearances vs. the Spartans. Jackson averages 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Scouting the Spartans
Michigan State enters the game with the Buckeyes sporting an 11-2 record and a 2-0 mark in the Big Ten. The only blemishes on the Spartans’ record are losses to No. 1 Kansas to open the season, 92-87, and then at Louisville in overtime, 82-78.

Michigan State took care of Rutgers on the road, 78-67, and then downed Iowa at home, 90-68, in the early December Big Ten Conference games. A trio of Spartans average 15 or more points a game. Cassius Winston (17.5 ppg.), Nick Ward (16.1 ppg.) and Joshua Langford (15.0 ppg.) handle the brunt of the Michigan State scoring while Kenny Goins leads the team on the glass with 9.2 rebounds a game.

Ohio State vs. The Big Ten
The Buckeyes own an overall record of 819-717 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 this year. He entered his first year of Big Ten competition with a 4-5 record vs. conference foes. He is 21-9 vs. conference opponents in eight years as a head coach.