The Ohio State (5-2) men’s basketball team hits the court Wednesday evening against Clemson (5-1) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tip is scheduled for 7:16 pm at Value City Arena.
The game will air live via ESPN2.
The Buckeyes fell to Butler in a come-from-ahead loss this past Sunday.
Opening Tip
Who: Clemson (5-1) at Ohio State (5-2)
What: Men’s Basketball
Where: Columbus, Ohio – Value City Arena
When: Wednesday Nov. 29, 7:16 pm (ESPN2)
Why: Because it’s time to move on from the Butler loss.
Three Point Territory
[Straight to the Point] C.J. Jackson led the Buckeyes with an average of 18.0 points a game in the PK80 event in Portland. He shot 7-of-14 from three-point range. He also made 13 of 14 foul shots (.929) and set a career high in scoring with 23 points in the win vs. Stanford. Junior Keita Bates-Diop (13.7 ppg.) and senior Jae’Sean Tate (11.7 ppg.) also averaged double digits. Ohio State went 1-2 during the tournament.
[Bouncing Back] Chris Holtmann has said that Ohio State will go as far as Keita Bates-Diop and Jae’Sean Tate take them. And in last week’s loss to Gonzaga, they didn’t lead them all that far. Tate finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds, and Bates-Diop could only manage 7 points and 10 rebounds. In the two games since, however, KBD is averaging his normal double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Tate, meanwhile, has averaged nearly 12 points and 9 rebounds.
[Challenge History] Buckeyes in the Challenge Ohio State has participated in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the last 15 years and has a 6-9 record in the event. The Buckeyes first took part in the event during the 2002-03 season against Duke in Greensboro, N.C., a 91-75 Blue Devils’ victory. Ohio State defeated Virginia Tech in Columbus in 2005-06, 69-59, for its first victory in the event. The 2011 game vs. Duke in Columbus pitted the highest combined ranking of Ohio State (2) and Duke (3) in the Buckeyes’ previous Challenge games. That record was nearly tied in 2012 with the No. 4 Buckeyes traveling to No. 2 Duke. Ohio State was No. 3 and North Carolina came in at No. 7 in the 2006 Challenge. Ohio State has faced a ranked ACC opponent 11 times in the Challenge. The Buckeyes have won five of the last nine Challenge games.
THE BUCKEYES IN BIG TEN/ACC CHALLENGE
12/3/02 vs. No. 4 Duke L 76-91(4)
12/3/03 No. 13 Georgia Tech L 53-73(13)
12/1/04 at Clemson L 73-80
11/28/05 Virginia Tech W 69-59
11/29/06 at No. 7 North Carolina L 89(3)-98(7)
11/29/07 No. 1 North Carolina L 55-66(1)
12/2/08 at No. 21 Miami, Fla. W 73-68(21)
12/2/09 No. 21 Florida State W 77(15)-64(21)
11/30/10 at Florida State W 58(2)-44
11/29/11 No. 3 Duke W 85(2)-63(3)
11/28/12 at No. 2 Duke L 68(4)-73(2)
12/4/13 Maryland W 76(5)-60
12/2/14 at No. 5 Louisville L 55(14)-64(5)
12/1/15 No. 10 Virginia L 58-64(10)
11/30/16 at No. 7 Virginia L 61-63(6)
What You Should Know
+ The Buckeyes and Tigers have met once previously, also in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Ohio State traveled to South Carolina for the 2004 Challenge and fell to the Tigers 80-73. Ohio State is 67-47 all-time vs. the ACC. Chris Holtmann, first-year head coach of the Buckeyes, is 0-1 vs. Clemson all-time. While coaching Gardner-Webb in 2011, Holtmann’s Bulldogs lost at Clemson, 65-44 (11/11/11). The Buckeyes are 4-3 at home in the event, the last win at Value City Arena was against Maryland in 2013. The Terps, formally an ACC member, is currently in their fourth year of Big Ten Conference membership.
+ There is a common opponent for Ohio State and Clemson this season, as both teams have a win over Texas Southern this month. The Buckeyes defeated TSU 82-64 on Nov. 16, while the Tigers got a 84-77 win over them late last week. The Buckeyes are favored by 5.5 points over Clemson.
+ Forward Donte Grantham is off to a very fast start. He has been a terror for opponents this season, averaging 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Even more impressive, the senior is shooting 69.8 percent from the floor (37-for-53) and 47.6 percent from three (10-for-21). Grantham posted back-to-back 20-point outings against Ohio and Hofstra – marking his fourth and fifth 20-point games of his career. On two-point field goals, Grantham is shooting an ultra-impressive 84.3
[Keita Bates-Diop photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com]
