Records
Ohio State 16-9 (6-8), Northwestern 12-13 (3-11)
Broadcast, TV, Game Time
Date: Wednesday, February 20
Game Time: 8:30 PM
Venue: Value City Arena, Columbus, OH
Network: BTN | You can also tune in online with FuboTV. (Try it for free)
Ohio State is reeling and will take any win it can get in just about any fashion at this point. The NCAA bubble is a real thing all of a sudden and it’s all about stockpiling as many wins as it can in trying to put together a worthy resume.
Northwestern comes into Value City Arena as a shadow of what it was over the last couple of years. Some issues beyond the program’s control in combination with being a young team has resulted in some severe growing pains this year.
But nothing is a given for an Ohio State squad that seems to be losing more and more confidence in itself as the season goes on. It has to push through the doubt and win a game it can’t afford to drop Wednesday.
Next … The Ohio State Game Plan
Ohio State cliff notes game plan
This should be a fairly vanilla game plan. This is one of the few games in the Big Ten where the Buckeyes feel like they have the advantage at almost every position and should be able to stick with what they do best, execute and look to come out on top.
It’ll be tough man-to-man defense, a physical brand of basketball that gets Kaleb Wesson involved early and often, and a half-court spread it around type of affair.
Chris Holtmann won’t draw up anything sexy, but he shouldn’t need to as long as the ball’s going in the hoop and there aren’t a ton of turnovers to allow the Wildcats to stay in the game.
Next … Key Player And Prediction
Key player for Ohio State
Andre Wesson. It’s the elder Wesson we’re going to single out for this one. Sure his younger brother will have to make a difference, but Andre could get paired up with Northwestern’s best player, Vic Law. Kyle Young is likely to rotate with him, but expect Holtmann to try and use Wesson’s length to disrupt Law’s clean looks from the perimeter. If he can make life difficult for the Wildcats leading scorer, and pitch in a little on the offensive end, the Buckeyes should come out on top.
How it’ll all go down
It’s time to take care of business. This Northwestern team has had a hard time with the game of basketball this year, and Ohio State should be able to get a solid, workmanlike victory in front of the home crowd. There will still be some bumps and adventure in this little dramatization, but the Buckeyes win the game they’re expected to win and move on to bigger and better things.
Final score
Ohio State 67, Northwestern 60
Line
Coming …
