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COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a pair of road games last week, the Buckeyes return home to host Illinois on Tuesday night at Value City Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock. Jac Collinsworth and Stephen Bardo will call the action.

• This will be the 192nd meeting all-time between the two programs. Illinois leads the series 109-82 but the Buckeyes have won 10 of the last 12 meetings in Columbus.
• Last year, the teams split a pair of meetings with each winning on its home floor. Illinois used a big run at the start of the second half to build a double-digit lead and the Buckeyes never really threatened the rest of the way, falling 69-60 on Jan. 24 in Champaign. In the second meeting, it was Ohio State’s turn to take advantage of a second half run. The Buckeyes went on an 11-1 run, sparked by a Brice Sensabaugh dunk, to pull away and win 72-60 on Feb. 26.
• Ohio State is coming off a very tough night in Evanston on Saturday. The Buckeyes shot a season-low 34.1 percent while the Wildcats connected on nearly 58 percent of their shots and would roll to an 83-58 victory. The Buckeyes did however, get to the free throw line, making 25 of a season-high 33 attempts. Bruce Thornton led the way with 16 points on 11-of-12 from the line. Roddy Gayle Jr. added 15 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the stripe.
• Jamison Battle leads the Big Ten in three-pointers made with 57 and is shooting a league-leading 44.2 percent from beyond the arc. He has also knocked-down his last 20 attempts from the free throw line.
• Sophomore guard Bowen Hardman has been a bright spot over the last two games. The Cincinnati, Ohio native, who has played in just 15 games in his career, had a career-high 11 points on 3-of-7 from long range at Nebraska and knocked-down his first three-point attempt at Northwestern on Saturday. He is also the lone player with a positive plus/minus in each of the last two games, holding a +2 at Nebraska and a +12 at Northwestern.
• Illinois enters Tuesday with a record of 15-5 following a solid win at Indiana on Saturday. The Illini played a tremendous game in a 96-90 overtime setback at Northwestern last Wednesday. Terrence Shannon Jr. missed roughly a month of the season but is back now and leading the team at 19.9 points per game. Illinois is also the leading rebounding team in the Big Ten and the 43.2 rebounds per game are Top 5 nationally.
• After the win on Jan. 3 against Rutgers, the Buckeyes were averaging over 79 points per game. That was a 14-game sample. Over the last six, they’ve hit the 79-point mark one time in the win over Penn State. They are due for a breakout.