By Danielle Daniels

Ohio State vs. New Orleans
Date: December 21, 2023
Time: 6 p.m.
Venue: Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio

Game Notes: Ohio State | New Orleans
Rosters:Ohio State | New Orleans
Season Stats:Ohio State | New Orleans

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State will conclude the home non-conference portion of the schedule on Thursday when it hosts New Orleans. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed exclusively on B1G+. Connor Schuh, former Ohio State captain Joey Lane and Tyler Danburg will call the action.

• This will be just the second all-time meeting between the programs. Ohio State won the first meeting back in the 1989-90 season as Perry Carter scored 22 points to lead the Buckeyes to a 74-66 victory in the Sugar Bowl Tournament.
• The Buckeyes are also a perfect 5-0 all-time against the Southland Conference and are looking for their 31st consecutive victory against unranked non-conference opponents at Value City Arena.
• Ohio State enters the game at 9-2 overall and is coming off a hard-fought 67-60 victory over UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic last Saturday in Atlanta. Sophomore Roddy Gayle Jr. led the Buckeyes with a game-high 19 points. Jamison Battle made the team’s lone three-pointer and finished with 14 points. Atlanta area native Bruce Thornton scored 13 points, grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and dished-out a game-high four assists.
• The Buckeyes have the 18th best adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom. They average 79.5 points per game and shot better than 38 percent from long range as a team. The game against UCLA snapped a streak of six-consecutive games of 80 or more points.
• Thornton leads the team in scoring at 18.0 ppg and his 4.70 assist-to-turnover ratio is second-best in the country and in the Top 10 nationally.
• Gayle Jr. has exactly matched his scoring total from last season as he has 162 points for an average of 14.7 ppg. He and Thornton are the only guard duo in the Big Ten to each average better than 14.5 points and 3.5 assists per game this season.
• New Orleans comes into the contest at 5-6 overall. The Privateers last played on Dec. 14, defeating DIII Birmingham Southern 91-51. Jordan Johnson leads the team in scoring (23.1 ppg), three-pointers (36), and assists (48). Khaleb Wilson-Rouse is the other Privateer averaging in double-figures at 10.9 ppg and he has a team-best 22 steals.
• Transfer forward Jamison Battle has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season and at least one in 17 of his last 18 games. He is just 17 three-pointers away from 300 in his career.