Wednesday Big Ten Preview: Buckeyes Host Wildcats

There is only game tonight after Nebraska announced that they are pausing basketball activities.

Game of the Night

Northwestern Wildcats at #21 Ohio State Buckeyes

• Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET (BTN)

In tonight’s only game the Wildcats will look for their first win since the day after Christmas when they edged the Buckeyes by a point in Evanston. Northwestern has lost three straight, all by double figures, and at 6-4 (3-3) are starting to fade towards the back of the pack. That win over a fourth ranked Michigan State program is starting to become a distant memory and a win over a ranked Buckeyes team on the road would be a big boost.

Ohio State has been inconsistent, alternating wins the last couple weeks. After losing to Northwestern they rolled past Nebraska, lost by double figures at Minnesota and then beat Rutgers on the road by 11 in a game that wasn’t even that close.

The Buckeyes frontcourt has impressed this year but their backcourt leaves a bit to be desired once you get past Duane Washington Jr. It doesn’t help that they’re a 32.1% three point shooting team, with Washington being the only player in the top six in scoring to shoot better than 25% from three (he hits 38.6%). On the other side of the court Northwestern does a much better job from deep, hitting 40.2% of their threes. Miller Kopp is currently hitting 51.4% from beyond the arc while also leading the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game.

In the Wildcats last three losses they’ve been out rebounded in every game. They’ve also struggled heavily shooting the ball against Michigan and Illinois, something that doesn’t bode well as they’ll need to find their offensive footing if they want to land an upset here. Ohio State struggles shooting from outside, but they tend to clean up on the glass on offense and also get to the line quite a bit (25th in free throw attempts per game).

The Buckeyes are a perfect opportunity for Northwestern to try to turn things around and pick up some positive momentum. However, winning on the road in the Big Ten is tough and the Wildcats haven’t been playing particularly well as of late. Ohio State should get the W tonight.

Pick: Ohio State

The Rest

#14 Illinois Fighting Illini at Nebraska Cornhuskers

• Time/TV: Postponed

Tonight’s game between Illinois and Nebraska has been postponed. The Cornhuskers announced that they are pausing basketball activities and that their game against Maryland this weekend has also been postponed.