Ohio State basketball vs. Minnesota preview: TV info, key players, stats, prediction
Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes preview game vs. Minnesota
Email
By
Bill Landis, cleveland.com
Follow on Twitter
on January 25, 2017 at 6:45 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State basketball is back home on Wednesday night against Minnesota. Here's everything you need to know before tip-off:
GAME INFORMATION
Who: Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-5, 3-4 Big Ten) at Ohio State Buckeyes (12-8, 2-5).
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Value City Arena (18,809).
TV: Big Ten Network, with Dave Revsine and Jon Crispin on the call.
Twitter: Follow cleveland.com's
Bill Landis for updates from the game.
Latest line: Ohio State -2.
Series record: Ohio State leads the all-time series vs. Minnesota, 84-57, including a 51-18 mark in Columbus. Minnesota beat Ohio State, 78-68, back on Jan. 8 in Minneapolis.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Minnesota: G Nate Mason (6-2, Jr., 13.7 ppg); G Akeem Springs (6-4, Sr., 8.9 ppg); G Amir Coffey (6-8, Fr., 12.3 ppg); F Jordan Murphy (6-6, Soph., 9.8 ppg); C Reggie Lynch (6-10, Jr., 8.4 ppg).
Ohio State: G JaQuan Lyle (6-5, Soph., 12.4 ppg); G Kam Williams (6-2, Jr., 10.3 ppg); F Marc Loving (6-8, Sr., 11.1 ppg); F Jae'Sean Tate (6-4, Jr., 14.1 ppg); C Trevor Thompson (7-0, Jr., 10.7 ppg).
GAME NOTES
* Since beating Ohio State on Jan. 8, Minnesota has lost three straight to Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Ohio State is 2-2 in that span, but saw a two-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday in a 74-72 loss to Northwestern.
* Minnesota is going for the season sweep of Ohio State, something it hasn't done since beating Penn State twice in the 2013-14 season. Minnesota is the first opponent the Buckeyes will have played twice this season. Last year Ohio State was swept in Big Ten play by Maryland and Michigan State.
* Last time against Minnesota, Ohio State went scoreless for more than eight minutes in the first half while the Gophers built a 26-8 lead. Gophers guards Amir Coffey and Akeem Springs scored 19 points and 18 points, respectively, in that game, the most either has scored in a Big Ten game this year.
* The last time out against Minnesota, Ohio State led 40-32 in points scored in the paint. Tate scored 20 points, while Thompson had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Thad Matta was upset the Buckeyes didn't work the ball inside enough against Northwestern. Look for Ohio State to establish Tate and Thompson early.
* Minnesota leads the Big Ten in blocked shots per game at 6.5, and blocked 12 Ohio State shots in that game earlier this month. The Buckeyes are getting blocked 4.0 times per game in Big Ten play, and 2.8 times per game for the season.
PREDICTION
Bill's pick: Ohio State 68, Minnesota 63. Minnesota is 2-2 on the road in the Big Ten, and in its last two conference road games it's scored 47 and 50 points. Ohio State held Northwestern to 37.5 percent shooting on Sunday, its best defensive field goal percentage in nine games. Maybe that's a sign that the Buckeyes are getting their defense back on track. Feed Tate and Thompson.
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/01/ohio_state_basketball_vs_minne_1.html
