The Ohio State Buckeyes (18-12, 8-11) host the No. 21 Wisconsin Badgers (21-9, 13-6) for a 4:30 pm tip-off Sunday on CBS. The Buckeyes come into this game following a 68-50 loss at Northwestern. Wisconsin, meanwhile, was last on the court Thursday at home against Iowa, which saw the Badgers come away with a 65-45 win. This is the only regular season matchup between Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Opening Tip
Who: Wisconsin at Ohio State
What: Men’s Basketball
Where: Columbus, OH — Schottenstein Center
When: 4:30 pm (CBS)
Why: Because the loss at Northwestern has to be answered for.
Line: Ohio State +4
The Buckeyes
Three-Point Territory
+ Seven Ohio State student assistants along with three senior men’s basketball players will be working and playing in their final home game as Buckeyes. C.J. Jackson, Keyshawn Woods and Joey Lane will be taking the court one final time. Student managers John McCausland, Luke Gebbie, Austin Rector, Willis Day and Griffin Standley are working their final game as managers. David Aaron is ending a four-year tenure as a student video producer and Greg Oden will end his career as a student assistant coach this afternoon.
Ohio State Seniors, Families
John McCausland, Manager: Parents, Katie and Kris.
Luke Gebbie, Manager: Parents Jackie and Joel.
Austin Rector, Manager: Parents Brenda and Ken, sister Erika.
Willis Day, Manager: Parents Amy and Ricky, brothers Manny and Ross.
Griffin Standley, Manager: Parents Jane and Jeff , sister Madison.
David Aaron, Video Specialist: Parents Bonnie and Doug.
Greg Oden, Student Assistant Coach: Wife Sabrina, daughter Londyn, mother Zoe Oden.
Keyshawn Woods, Graduate Guard: Father Deon, step-mother Sheba Jefferie, mother Fawn McCrorey, sister, Jasmine.
Joey Lane, Senior Guard: Parents Nancy and Scott, sister Hannah.
C.J. Jackson, Senior Guard: Mother Shawn Jackson, father Cleveland Jackson, sisters Camiya and Camryn.
+ It’s been awhile since Ohio State and Wisconsin have battled one another. It’s been one year, three months and nine days since the teams last met in Madison Dec. 2, 2017 in the first Big Ten game for Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann. The Buckeyes won that game 83-58. The Badgers have not been to Columbus since Feb. 23, 2017 (2 yrs., 16 days). The Buckeyes won that one 83-73. Ohio State leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 88-70. The Buckeyes are 54-23 in Columbus and 30-46 in Madison. The teams have met five times on neutral courts with Ohio State winning four. The Buckeyes have faced 25 Badger teams ranked among the Associated Press Top 25. Ohio State is 12-13 in those games. C.J. Jackson averages 10.7 points in three meetings against the Badgers. He averages 3.0 rebounds as well. Kaleb Wesson, in his only meeting vs. Wisconsin as a freshman, tallied 19 points and three rebounds.
+ Kyle Young has made 33 of his last 44 field goal attempts. Luther Muhammad has missed 33 of his last 35. CJ Jackson has made just 12 of his last 42 shot attempts. Duane Washington is 21-of-57 over the last six games. Andre Wesson is 16-of-50 in that same span. Keyshawn Woods is shooting 24-of-63 over his last nine contests.
The Wisconsin Badgers
What You Need To Know
+ A win would give UW 14 Big Ten wins for just the third time in school history, joining its 16-win seasons in 2008 and 2015.
+ Wisconsin checked in at No. 15 in the March 8 NET rankings and No. 12 according to KenPom.com. The Badgers are 1 of just 12 teams with 8 Quadrant 1 wins. UW has played the 8th-toughest schedule in the NCAA.
+ Wisconsin has won 8 Big Ten games when trailing in the second half. UW has out-scored its opponent in the second half in 17 of 19 Big Ten games.
+ Averaging 17.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, Happ is the nation’s only player averaging at least 16.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 4.0 apg. In fact, in the last 20 years, the NCAA’s only other player to average those marks was LSU’s All-American Ben Simmons (19.2 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 4.8 apg). Ethan Happ is 1 of 6 players in NCAA history to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 400 assists, joining Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Danny Ferry, Stacey Augmon and John Konchar.
+ UW ranks 2nd in the Big Ten shooting 37.6% on 3FGs. During Big Ten play, Brevin Pritzl leads the Big Ten shooting 53.7%. Overall, Pritzl (44.3%), D’Mitrik Trice (41.3%) and Brad Davison (38.1%) all rank among the Big Ten’s top 20.
+ After missing the final 23 games of last season with a foot injury, sophomore D’Mitrik Trice is one of the most improved players in the B1G this season. Trice is 2nd on the team averaging 12.1 ppg, up from last year’s mark of 9.4 ppg. Trice ranks 12th in the Big Ten shooting 41.3% from 3-point range, hitting 69-of-167. He is also 4th in the B1G averaging 2.3 triples per game. Trice has hit 4+ triples in a game 8 times this season. Trice went 5-5 from deep at Xavier (11/13), 7-8 vs. Oklahoma (11/22), 4-5 vs. NC State (11/27), 4-8 at Iowa, 4-7 vs. SSU (12/13), 4-7 vs. Purdue (1/11), 4-6 vs. Northwestern (1/26) and 4-9 at Northwestern (2/23).
+ The Badgers have held their opponents to that team’s season-low scoring total in 7 of the last 13 games. They’ve won all 7. Opponents are averaging 57.7 ppg and shooting 37.4% overall and 28.2% on 3FGs over the last 13 games. Opponents are shooting just 39.3% overall against UW and a mere 30.7% from 3-point range. Foes are making just 6.1 3FGs per game. The Badgers have had a better FG% than their opponents in 24 of 30 games, going 21-3 in those games. UW has allowed just 1 team to shoot over 48% in any game.