Northwestern @ Ohio St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 17, 2018 ) Ohio St. 71, Northwestern 65

Ohio State needs to keep the air in its NCAA Tournament bubble after a deflating loss at No. 11 Michigan State last weekend and Northwestern could provide the helium Wednesday night in the first of two regular-season meetings this season. Northwestern would just be satisfied with any win after six consecutive Big Ten losses.

Ohio State has dropped consecutive games against Illinois and Michigan State after winning three in a row to start the month. In the loss at Michigan State, Ohio State led at halftime and the score was tied at 42 with 7:26 left, but the Buckeyes were outscored 20-2 the rest of the way in their late flame-out. In the second half, Ohio State's shooting woes surfaced when the team went 4-for-21 from the field in the final 20 minutes and 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. Still, Ohio State is in a better position than Northwestern, which last won 73-66 over Indiana on Jan. 22.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (12-13, 3-11 Big Ten): An experienced roster with four seniors accounting for more than 70 percent of the Wildcats' points this season hasn't helped them succeed in the competitive Big Ten. Senior Vic Law leads Northwestern at 15.5 points per game, senior Dererk Pardon is behind him at 13.6, and Law (45 of 137) and senior Ryan Taylor (55 of 160) have taken more than half of Northwestern's 563 3-point shots this season. The Wildcats are a poor shooting team, connecting on 40.9 percent from the field in 25 games, but a marker of success is when they've made nine or more 3-pointers, they are unbeaten.
ABOUT OHIO STATE (16-9, 6-8): The Buckeyes hit a wall Sunday in the loss at Michigan State when point guard C.J. Jackson suffered an ankle injury in the second half and couldn't finish the game after briefly returning. Jackson, who averages 12.8 points and 4.2 rebounds and has team highs of 87 assists and 65 turnovers, said Tuesday that the ankle should be fine for Wednesday. Leading scorer Kaleb Wesson (14.4 points per game) has done a better job of staying away from early foul trouble, but his production has continued to slide in recent games.

TIP-INS

1. Sixty could be the magic number in the matchup between Northwestern, which is 0-9 when it has been held below 60 points in a game, and Ohio State, which is 9-0 when its defense allows the opponents 61 or fewer points.

2. Neither team has a prolific offense, but Ohio State (70.6 points per game) is slightly better than Northwestern (67.0).

3. Luther Muhammad has averaged the second-most minutes (29.8) for Ohio State this season as a freshman and is the team's third-leading scorer (9.5 points) and top 3-point shooter percentage-wise (42.3) despite finishing with only two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field against Michigan State.

PREDICTION: Ohio State 68, Northwestern 59