Ohio St. @ Michigan preview

Ohio St. at Michigan

Last Meeting ( Feb 18, 2018 ) Ohio St. 62, Michigan 74

Fifth-ranked Michigan looks to move into a tie for first place in the Big Ten standings when it hosts Ohio State on Tuesday. The Wolverines bounced back from their first loss of the season against No. 23 Wisconsin on Jan. 19 with back-to-back wins, including a 69-46 road victory against Indiana on Friday, to pull within a 1/2 game of eighth-ranked Michigan State, and hope to continue their stellar defensive play by extending their home winning streak to 20 games.

Michigan limited the Hoosiers to 27.6 percent shooting from the floor en route to its biggest margin of victory ever in Bloomington and hopes to cap off a successful January by holding its seventh opponent to fewer than 65 points this month. Ohio State notched its first win in almost four weeks when it took down Nebraska 70-60 on Saturday. The Buckeyes had dropped five straight games, including the previous three contests by double digits, before righting the ship against the Cornhuskers, and hope to add a marquee win to their NCAA Tournament resume by knocking off a Top 5 team for the third time in just over a year. "It's no secret we're playing an elite team that's having a special season," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann told reporters. "We're looking forward to a great challenge."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT OHIO STATE (13-6, 3-5 Big Ten): Luther Muhammad stepped up in a big way for the Buckeyes as the freshman guard racked up a career-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals in the vital win against Nebraska. C.J. Jackson added 10 points and four assists against the Cornhuskers to finish in double figures for the 12th time in 14 games while moving within six assists of reaching 300 for his career. Andre Wesson also scored 10 points and Musa Jallow tallied five points and four rebounds in place of Kyle Young (7.3 points, 4.8 rebounds), who went down with a stress fracture in his leg on Jan. 22.

ABOUT MICHIGAN (19-1, 8-1): Iggy Brazdeikis led the way with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds in the win against Indiana to post the sixth 20-point game of his career. Zavier Simpson produced 12 points, six rebounds and five assists while Jon Teske continues to be one of the most improved players in the Big Ten as he finished with 11 points and a pair of blocks against the Hoosiers. Brazdeikis was named the Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week for the fourth time this season, which is a program record, after averaging 19 points and nine rebounds in the wins over Minnesota (59-57) and Indiana.

TIP-INS

1. Michigan has won 33 of its last 35 games dating back to last season.

2. Ohio State F Kaleb Wesson needs seven rebounds to reach 300 for his career.

3. Teske has recorded at least two blocked shots in nine straight games.

PREDICTION: Michigan 74, Ohio State 67