Ohio State at Northwestern
Date: January 1, 2023
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena – Evanston, Ill.
Watch: BTN
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Game Notes: Ohio State | Northwestern
Rosters: Ohio State | Northwestern
Season Stats: Ohio State | Northwestern
TICKETS: Season, single-game, group and mini plans are available men’s basketball games this season. Visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – With non-conference play in the rear-view mirror, Ohio State jumps back into Big Ten play with a trip to Northwestern on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston and it will be televised on BTN. Jeff Levering and Stephen Bardo will call the action.
- Ohio State has dominated the all-time series with Northwestern 122-48. The Buckeyes are 50-33 in Evanston, including 37-17 in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
- The Buckeyes have won five of the last eight meetings with the Wildcats. Prior to that, the Buckeyes won 31 of 33 meetings dating back to 1999.
- The last trip to Evanston was also over the holidays as Ohio State spent Christmas in Evanston in 2020 before falling to the Wildcats 71-70 on Dec. 26.
- Ohio State comes into the game at 9-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes had a thrilling conference opener as Tanner Holden’s three-pointer at the buzzer lifted OSU to a 69-67 victory over Rutgers on Dec. 8. That was Holden’s lone bucket of the game.
- Ohio State is unranked for the second consecutive week but is No. 16 in the NET ranking.
- The Buckeyes have the third-most efficient offense in the country according to Kenpom. Ohio State is shooting 49.4 percent as a team, which is second in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are scoring 81.7 ppg which is tops in the conference and eighth among Power 6 conference teams (Big East included).
- The Buckeyes have out-rebounded their opponent in all nine wins and have been out-rebounded in the three losses. OSU is second in the Big Ten and 12th in the country in rebounding margin at +9.3 per game.
- Northwestern is off to a great start, sitting at 10-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Wildcats lone conference win may be the most impressive of the young season as they went into East Lansing and beat Michigan State 70-63 on Dec. 4. Northwestern is third in the country in field goal percentage defense at just 35.1 percent and seventh in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 55.7 ppg.
- Freshman Brice Sensabaugh is the reigning two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week. He leads the team in scoring at 15.8 ppg which is also fourth among freshmen nationally. He has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season and has three 20-point games.
- Point guard Bruce Thornton has dished-out a season-high five assists in each of the last four games. The Buckeyes are 7-1 this year when he has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
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