The Ohio State men’s basketball team (14-4, 5-0) takes on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-7 ,1-4) Sunday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm and the game will be aired on BTN.
The Buckeyes are coming in off of a 91-69 win over Maryland on Thursday. Rutgers, meanwhile, lost 76-72 at Michigan State in overtime on Wednesday.
Opening Tip
Who: Ohio State (14-4, 5-0) at Rutgers (11-7, 1-4)
What: Men’s Basketball
Where: Piscataway, NJ — Rutgers Athletic Center (8,000)
When: Sunday, 7:00 pm (BTN)
Why: Because basketball is fun again.
Line: Rutgers +6
Three Point Territory
[Rarefied Air] Chris Holtmann is the first Big Ten coach to record a 5-0 record in conference play during his first season since Tom Davis went 6-0 to start the 1986 campaign at Iowa. Holtmann is the sixth coach in conference history to start his career in league play at 5-0 or better. Coaches to start career 5-0 in Big Ten: Walter Meanwell, Wisconsin, 12-0 in 1912; Sam Barry, Iowa, 11-0 in 1923; Tom Davis, Iowa, 6-0 in 1987; Chris Holtmann, Ohio State, 5-0 in 2018; Bucky O’Connor, Iowa, 5-0 in 1952; and O.B. “Ozzie” Cowles, Minnesota, 5-0 in 1949.
[Good Start] Ohio State last started 5-0 in the Big Ten during the 2011 conference season with 11-consecutive wins to start the league season. Chris Holtmann is the first Ohio State coach to start the conference season 5-0 in his first year in Columbus. Among teams in Power 5 conferences with five games played in league play, Ohio State has the largest scoring margin in conference games at +16.6 ppg.
[The Series] Ohio State leads the overall series with the Scarlet Knights 4-2. Ohio State is 2-0 at Rutgers, 2-0 in Columbus and 0-2 on neutral courts vs. Rutgers. Jae’Sean Tate has appeared in five of the six all-time meetings with the Scarlet Knights with averages of 17.0 points and 6.8 rebounds. He has made 34 of 47 field goal attempts (.723) in an average of 32 minutes per game. Classmate Kam Williams also has played in five games vs. Rutgers. He contributes 13.2 points a game and has made 12 of 23 3-pointers and 10 of 11 free throws in the series. In three all-time appearances, junior Keita Bates-Diop averages 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 61 percent from the field (20-33) and 8 of 15 from distance (.533).
Rutgers
What You Should Know
+ “That’s the most physical team we’ve played. We’re physical enough to play some teams. We played Duke, (North) Carolina, and Notre Dame. Good teams. Tonight we played a well-coached team that is as physical as the day is long. Their guards were, their bigs were. The way they went after the ball late, if I was watching the game and wasn’t coaching it, I would have enjoyed it.” – Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo on Rutgers, 1/10/18
+ Rutgers is fifth nationally in rebounding (42.44) and offensive rebounding (14.56), and 11th in scoring defense (61.7) and FG% defense (38.3). The Scarlet Knights are among the top three in 12 Big Ten stat categories.
+ Guard Geo Baker leads all Big Ten freshmen in assists (3.6), assist-turnover ratio (1.8), and minutes (31.9), and is third in scoring (11.2).
Prediction
All expectations are that this is going to be an ugly game. Rutgers is a physical opponent who defends very well. Chris Holtmann is eager to see what his team looks like when a game is close down the stretch, and this feels like one of those games. The Buckeyes are due for a let down, but a win in this game should see them ranked on Monday. If Ohio State can protect the basketball like they have been doing recently, they should be fine. If the Scarlet Knights can turn them over like they have been known to do to other teams, Rutgers could steal one. They have some tough losses this season. This could be another. I feel like OSU is ripe for an upset, and I intended to pick Rutgers, but I’m just not sure if the Scarlet Knights can score enough to get the win. The Buckeyes are really clicking right now.
Ohio State 73, Rutgers 66
