Purdue @ Ohio St. preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 7, 2018 ) Ohio St. 64, Purdue 63

Value City Arena has not been kind to Purdue, but the Boilermakers were winners in their last visit in 2017 for only the second time in 15 games on Ohio State's home court and will try to make it two in a row in Columbus on Wednesday night. Purdue will face an Ohio State team that's in the throes of a four-game Big Ten losing streak and received more bad news Tuesday when it was learned that forward Kyle Young will be out several weeks with a stress fracture.

The Buckeyes were humming along at 12-1 and had moved into the top 15 of the rankings before they started to have difficulty scoring in January. During the skid, they've been held to 62 or fewer points three times, shot 27.6 percent from 3-point range in three of the losses and committed 21 turnovers in another. Defenses have surrounded 6-foot-9, 270-pound Kaleb Wesson, Ohio State's top player, and forced his teammates to try to make shots. If they don't come through, that could mean more bad news for Ohio State against Purdue, which has played tenacious defense during its three-game winning streak that includes a 70-55 victory at home Saturday over rival Indiana.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT PURDUE (12-6, 5-2 Big Ten): Carsen Edwards is one of the nation's most dynamic offensive players and ranks among the leading scorers at 24.6 points per game. The next closest to Edwards on the team is Ryan Cline at 12.3 points. Seven-foot-3 center Matt Haarms comes off the bench and averages 7.7 points and 1.6 blocked shots per game.

ABOUT OHIO STATE (12-5, 2-4): Wesson leads the Buckeyes in scoring and rebounding, but C.J. Jackson is up to 13.1 points and 3.8 assists per game, and Ohio State relies on him to be a key contributor. Freshman Luther Muhammad follows Jackson at 9.1 points, and the rest of the Buckeyes who receive the bulk of playing time average between 7.3 and 7.9 points. With Young unavailable to provide help in the frontcourt, that puts more pressure on Wesson to stay out of foul trouble and for reserves Jaedon LeDee, Musa Jallow and Justin Ahrens to step up their contributions.

TIP-INS

1. Purdue has 10 or more steals in each game during its winning streak.

2. Cline is shooting 51.6 percent from 3-point range in the last five games.

3. Wesson was held scoreless while battling foul trouble in the only meeting last season, a 64-63 victory for Ohio State.

PREDICTION: Purdue 71, Ohio State 62