Ohio State Welcomes Rutgers to Value City Arena Saturday

• 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.
• Six Buckeyes are shooting better than 70 percent from the foul line this season. Freshman Luther Muhammad upped his foul shooting percentage with a 7 of 8 effort at Nebraska. He is shooting at a 71 percent clip to date (34-48). Guards C.J. Jackson and Keyshawn Woods shoot 80 percent and 84 percent, respectively. Brothers Kaleb Wesson (73 percent) and Andre Wesson (75 percent) join freshman Jaedon LeDee (76 percent) in the frontcourt.
• Opponents are shooting 40.6 percent from the field against the Ohio State defense (443-1,090). Foes are connecting on just 32.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (135-410).
• The Buckeyes have four wins in eight 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), lost at No. 5 Michigan (65-49) and took down UCLA (80-66) on a neutral court. At home, the Buckeyes fell vs. Syracuse (L, 72-62), No. 8 Michigan State (86-77) and Purdue (79-67) and have a win over Bucknell (W, 73-71). Ohio State has at least two games remaining vs. teams that made the 2018 NCAA Tournament: at Purdue and at Michigan State.
• Ohio State will play 14 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. 5 Michigan (away), No. 6 Michigan State (home/away), No. 17 Purdue (home/away), No. 21 Maryland (home/away) and No. 24 Wisconsin (home) among teams currently in the Top 25. Against those receiving votes, Ohio State faces Iowa (home/away), Nebraska (away), Minnesota (home), Syracuse (home) and Cincinnati (away).

Notable Numbers
C.J. Jackson reached 100 career 3-pointers made with three makes vs. Cleveland State (11/23/18) … for his Ohio State career he is (127-346/.367) from distance … has scored 857 career points after an 11-point effort at Michigan and is on pace to become Ohio State’s next 1,000-point scorer … Kyle Young, out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right leg, is 52-for-71 shooting this season (.732) … Joey Lane has appeared in nine games this season and is 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range … he also has six rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals in 3.1 minutes per game.

The Ohio State vs. Rutgers Series
Ohio State leads the all-time series with the Scarlet Knights 6-3. Ohio State owns a 3-1 record in New Brunswick and is 3-0 in Columbus. The teams have played on a neutral court twice with the Scarlet Knights winning both. C.J. Jackson and Andre Wesson each have faced Rutgers five times in their careers to lead the Buckeyes in appearances vs. the Scarlet Knights. Jackson averages 11.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. Kaleb Wesson has faced Rutgers three times and has averaged 14 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Luther Muhammad, a native of Newark, New Jersey, scored 13 points in game earlier this season at Rutgers.

Scouting the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers enters the game with the Buckeyes sporting an 11-9 record and a 4-6 mark in the Big Ten.  The Scarlet Knights started the season with a 5-1 record before a four-game losing streak started with losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin in December Big Ten games. Rutgers then fell to Fordham and Seton Hall before wins against Columbia and Maine followed by a loss to Maryland. Since defeating the Buckeyes 64-61 Jan. 9 in Piscataway, the Scarlet Knights are 3-3 with losses at Minnesota and Purdue and then at home vs. Northwestern. The wins were against Nebraska at home, at Penn State and at home last Wednesday vs. Indiana. Eugene Omoruyi leads the team offensively with 13.9 points per game. He is followed by Geo Baker’s 13.6 ppg. Omoruyi also leads the team with 7.4 rebounds a contest.

Ohio State vs. the Big Ten
The Buckeyes own an overall record of 820-723 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 last year. He entered his first year of Big Ten competition with a 4-5 record vs. conference foes. He is 22-17 vs. conference opponents in eight years as a head coach.