Buckeyes start the NIT off with one of the Ivy League’s best teams in Cornell Big Red, 7 PM

By Danielle Daniels

 

3 19 2024

Ohio State vs. Cornell
Date: March 19, 2024
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
Watch: ESPN2
Listen:Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats:OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Tournament Central: NIT Tournament Page
Game Notes: Ohio State | Cornell
Rosters:Ohio State | Cornell
Season Stats:Ohio State | Cornell

TICKETS: Tickets are on sale now. Visit TicketMaster.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State is set to play in its 10th NIT and will host Cornell on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. Tom Hart and Randolph Childress will call the action.

  • Ohio State has accepted an invitation to compete in the NIT and will open the tournament Tuesday night against Cornell.
  • It was a whirlwind 54 hours for the program since falling 77-74 in a hard-fought game against eventual Big Ten Tournament champion Illinois on Friday night. Jake Diebler was named the program’s 15th head coach on Sunday afternoon. The team then found out its NIT opponent and game date late on Sunday night and then hosted an introductory press conference on Monday afternoon.
  • The Buckeyes are playing in the NIT for the 10th time in program history. Ohio State is 19-8 all-time in the event with a pair of championships (1986, 2008) and have a record of 11-3 at home.
  • The last time the Buckeyes were in the NIT was in 2016. They hosted Akron in the opening round and won 72-63 in overtime before falling 74-66 in the second round against Florida.
  • Ohio State is 5-3 all-time vs. Cornell. The teams have not met since Jan. 24, 1969, when the Buckeyes won 96-78 in Cleveland.
  • Ohio State is 34-18 all-time vs. teams representing the Ivy League.
  • The Buckeyes beat Iowa on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament to notch its 20th win of the season. This is the program’s 33rd 20-win season and the sixth in the last seven seasons.
  • In the two games at the Big Ten Tournament, Jamison Battle notched a pair of 20-point games to lead the team in scoring at 22.0 ppg. He enters the tournament just 44 points shy of 2,000 in his career.
  • Bruce Thornton dished-out a career-high nine assists in the win over Iowa and then topped that number of with 10 assists vs. Illinois. He also had 20 points against the Illini to record his first career double-double. He is the only player in the country with 145+ assists and 40 or fewer turnovers and one of just six players with 100 or more assists than turnovers this season.
  • The Buckeyes have shot a combined 50.5 percent over the last four games, their best four-game stretch of the season. On the other side of the floor, the Buckeye defense has limited its opponents to just 37.4 percent shooting. That is also the best four-game stretch for the defense this season.
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