The Ohio State Buckeyes (15-7, 5-6) travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face the Badgers (13-10, 6-6) Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm on CBS. Ohio State is currently riding a three-game winning streak, with their last outing being a 61-58 victory at Michigan. The Badgers last played on Wednesday, which was a 70-52 loss at Minnesota. Their last home game, however, was a 64-63 win over No. 14 Michigan State. Wisconsin won the first meeting with the Buckeyes in a 61-57 victory in Columbus.
Opening Tip
Who: Ohio State at Wisconsin
What: Men’s Basketball
Where: Madison, WI — Kohl Center
When: Sunday 1:00 pm (CBS)
Why: Because revenge.
Line: Wisconsin -1.0
The Ohio State Buckeyes
Three-Point Territory
+ Ohio State leads the all-time series with Wisconsin 88-72. Th e Buckeyes are 54-25 in Columbus and 30-46 in Madison. The teams have met five times on neutral courts with Ohio State winning four. Andre Wesson has faced the Badgers five times, most on the Ohio State roster. He averages 5.6 points and just over two rebounds in the series. Kaleb Wesson averages 20.5 points and eight rebounds in two meetings with the Badgers.
+ The Buckeyes held a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint and a 24-16 advantage in bench points in the win at Michigan. Ohio State leads all-time series 98-78. The win at Michigan was the first this season for the Buckeyes when trailing with 5:00 remaining in the game (48-49/1-5) and when being outrebounded (42-31/1-3). Ohio State’s last win when trailing with 5:00 to play in the second half was at Creighton Nov. 5, 2018 when the Buckeyes rallied to win 69-60 after being down 55-54 at the 5-minute mark.
+ Kaleb Wesson notched his third-consecutive double-double, 10th of the year and 16th of his career with 23 points and 12 rebounds. The Buckeyes are 14-2 in the last three seasons and 8-2 this year when Wesson records a double-double. Wesson now has 1,121 career points and 599 career rebounds. With one more rebound, Wesson will become the 22nd Buckeye to pull down 600 career boards.
The Wisconsin Badgers
What You Need To Know
+ Wisconsin leads the Big Ten averaging just 9.1 turnovers per game in conference play. In fact, no other Big Ten team is averaging less than 10.0 turnovers per game in league play.
+ Nate Reuvers ranks 13th in the Big Ten in scoring (13.8 ppg). Reuvers has scored in double figures in 7 straight games and 19 of 23 this season. He has matched his career high (22 pts) on two different occasions this year (vs. #20 Saint Mary’s, vs. Milwaukee). He also ranks 7th among league members in FG% (.459). Reuvers has posted 47 blocks in 23 games, averaging 2.0 swats per game. That figure is tied for 4th in the B1G, 37th in the NCAA.
+ Wisconsin shot a season-low 28.4% FG, while allowing 41% FG, and suffered a 70-52 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday. The Badgers were just 7-for-29 from 3FG. Junior forward Nate Reuvers led 4 Badgers scoring in double figures with 14 points, joined by Aleem Ford (11), Micah Potter (11) and D’Mitrik Trice (10). Junior forward Micah Potter recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds (8 pts and 10 reb in the second half alone).
+ The Badgers have won 5 of the last 7 meetings overall, including a 61-57 win over then-#5 OSU in Columbus earlier this season. In Madison, Wisconsin has won 12 of last 15 contests against Ohio State dating back to 2001. Head coach Greg Gard is 4-2 all-time vs. OSU. Ohio State is making its first trip to Madison in over 2 years. The last time the Buckeyes visited the Kohl Center was Dec. 2, 2017.
+ UW’s returning scoring leader from last year, D’Mitrik Trice, is running the point. Trice has scored in double figures 5 straight games, including 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and just 1 turnover in 39 minutes in UW’s win over #14 Michigan State (2/1). Trice has scored 20+ points 6 times in his career, including 2 games this season. UW is 6-0 all-time when Trice scores 20+. Over the last 6 games, Trice is averaging 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He’s also been taking care of the basketball over that span, maintaining an impressive 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio (30 ast. to 12 TOs).
