By Danielle Daniels

2 18 2024

Ohio State vs. #2 Purdue
Date: February 18, 2024
Time: 1 p.m.
Venue: Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
Watch: CBS
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Game Notes: Ohio State | Purdue
Rosters: Ohio State | Purdue
Season Stats: Ohio State | Purdue

TICKETS: Single-game, group and mini plans are still available for the remaining men’s basketball games. Visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A tough week culminates Sunday at home when Ohio State will host No. 2 Purdue inside Value City Arena. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on CBS. Tom McCarthy and Jim Spanarkle will call the action.

• Ohio State will honor the 1998-99 team on Sunday at the game. Led by Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn, that team was the first to compete in the Schottenstein Center and finished the year ranked No. 4 in the Coaches Poll. That team didn’t “officially” make a long run in the NCAA Tournament. ??
• The Buckeyes and Boilermakers are meeting for the 187th time and Purdue holds a slim 94-92 lead in the all-time series. Taking into account vacated games, Purdue officially leads the series 94-86 while the Buckeyes hold a 55-32 edge in Columbus.
• Last year, the teams met three times and Purdue won all three meetings. The first game in Columbus was the best as Purdue made a three-pointer late and got a defensive stop to win 71-69. The game at Purdue in February saw the Buckeyes start four freshmen for the first time and Purdue took advantage, running away with an 82-55 victory. The final meeting came in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue pulled away late for an 80-66 win as the Buckeyes were playing their fourth game in four days.
• Last time out, the Buckeyes trailed wire-to-wire for the first time all season in a 62-54 setback at No. 20 Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Bruce Thornton led all scorers with 18 points while Roddy Gayle Jr. and Even Mahaffey each chipped-in with 10 points. The Badgers won the rebounding battle 39-26 and had 17 second chance points. The other difference came at the line as the Buckeyes had a season-low two attempts while Wisconsin was 11-of-16.
• On Feb. 14, director of athletics Gene Smith terminated the contract of Chris Holtmann and named Jake Diebler the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Holtmann was 137-86 in seven seasons with the Buckeyes. Diebler is in his eighth year at Ohio State and has won two games as acting head coach over the last three seasons, stepping in when Holtmann was ill.
• In the last 30 seasons, just three Buckeyes have had a streak of 30 or more consecutive games with a blocked shot. Ken Johnson, the Big Ten’s all-time blocked shot leader, had a streak of 40 games and Greg Oden blocked a shot in all 32 of his games in the 2006-07 season, his lone season as a Buckeye. Felix Okpara could match Oden on Sunday as he has blocked a shot in each of the last 31 games in which he’s played.
• The Buckeyes are looking for their first win over a Top 5 team since beating No. 1 Duke on Nov. 30, 2022.
• Sophomore Evan Mahaffey, who has started every game this season, averaged 3.6 ppg over the first 16 games. In the last nine, he has averaged 8.7 ppg and has shot 64.7 percent (33-of-51) from the floor.

#GoBucks

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS