No. 18 Buckeyes Open 121st Season against Cincinnati
11/4/2019 2:25:50 PM | 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) |
| Radio | OSU-IMG Sports Network (67 stations) Listen Free: Ohio State Buckeyes App | OhioStateBuckeyes.com |
| Local Radio | WBNS-FM 97.1 AM-1460 |
| Satellite Radio | Sirius (84) / XM (84) |
| Radio Talent | Paul Keels (Play-By-Play) Ron Stokes (Expert Analysis) |
| Live Stats | Gameday Live |
| Game Notes | Ohio State | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Preview Press Conference | Ohio State |
| Follow the Buckeyes on Social Media | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |
| 2019-20 Game Notes | Game Notes Archive |
| Tickets | Single Game | Group | Season | Student |
Havlicek Recognized
John Havlicek, who starred for the Buckeyes during the 1960-62 seasons and helped lead the Buckeyes to the 1960 NCAA Title, died in April at the age of 79. Ohio State players will wear a patch in memory of Havlicek during the game vs. Cincinnati Wednesday in Columbus. A moment of silence also will be observed prior to the game.
Starting Five
- The Buckeyes are 1,148-415 all-time when playing in the state of Ohio (.734) … Against Ohio teams, Ohio State is 235-79 (.748) all-time, regardless of location. The Buckeyes face a pair of intrastate foes this season. Ohio State opens with Cincinnati Nov. 6 at Value City Arena (8:30 p.m./FS1) and plays Kent State Nov. 25 at St. John Arena (6:30 p.m./BTN). Ohio State is 177-30 vs. Ohio teams in Columbus (.855).
- 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 806 career points over his career.
- There were a couple support staff changes during the offseason for the Buckeyes with the departure of Scoonie Penn, director of player development, and Jeff Deits, men’s basketball athletic trainer. Both Penn and Deits left for the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies. Penn accepted an assistant coach position and Deits will be the head athletic trainer. Terence Dials will be the director of professional development in place of Penn. The athletic trainer position with the Buckeyes is in the process of being filled.
The Cincinnati Opener
Ohio State opened the 2018-19 season officially Nov. 7, 2018 at Cincinnati, the first meeting against the Bearcats on either team’s campus since 1921 (Columbus/L, 33-17/Dec. 10, 1921) and the first time at Cincinnati since the 1920 season (Cincinnati/W, 35-13/Jan. 3, 1920). Ohio State earned a 64-56 win in the first game at renovated Fifth-Third Arena last year and is 7-4 all-time vs. the Bearcats. Three of the last five meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament. Cincinnati defeated the Buckeyes for the national championship in both 1961 and 1962. Ohio State defeated UC in the 2006 Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis (72-50) and then most recently in the 2012 NCAA East Regional Semifinals in Boston (81-66). Ohio State and Cincinnati open the 2019-20 season in Columbus to complete the home-and-home agreement.
Noting Ohio State vs. Ohio teams
- Ohio State improved its record to 235-79 versus teams from Ohio with the 75-56 win over Youngstown State Dec. 18, 2018.
- Chris Holtmann has a 9-5 career record versus teams from Ohio.
- Ohio State is 27-1 vs. Ohio teams since the 1995-96 season. The loss was to Dayton in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes fell 60-59 (3/20/2014) to the No. 22 Flyers.
- Ohio State is 177-30 in Columbus vs. Ohio teams, 50-41 in road games and 8-8 at neutral sites all-time.
- The Buckeyes played three teams from the state of Ohio last year. In addition to the road game at Cincinnati, Ohio State hosted Cleveland State Nov. 23 and Youngstown State Dec. 18 in Columbus.
Ohio State vs. the American Athletic Conference
The Buckeyes have faced teams representing the American Athletic Conference on 42 occasions, winning 27. Ohio State last faced a current American Athletic Conference member March 24 in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, a 74-59 loss to Houston in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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 98-21 in season openers and 101-17 in the first home game of the season. Ohio State is 55-63 in the first true road game of the year. In Big Ten Conference play, the Buckeyes are 58-46 in league openers, 72-33 in the first conference home game of the season and 39-66 in league road openers. Ohio State is 40-20 when the first conference game of the year is at home and 19-26 when opening conference play on the road.
Kaleb Wesson on Preseason Honors Lists
Junior Kaleb Wesson was tabbed a member of the 2019-20 Preseason All-Big Ten squad by conference media Oct. 2. He was one of three unanimous selections on the squad of 10 league players. Wesson also was listed as one of 20 preseason candidates for the Karl Malone Award, given annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the best power forward in the country. Wesson, listed as a center with the Buckeyes, could play his way on to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award list for the country’s best center when the award lists are reduced to 10 in mid-February and to five in March.
