COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State opens play at the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament Thursday afternoon after a streaky regular season that saw them enter and leave the AP Top 25 on an almost weekly basis after starting conference play in the top five.
Fifth-seed OSU plays No. 12 Purdue in the second game this afternoon, which will tip off approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the opening game between Indiana and Illinois. The games will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
The Buckeyes’ won-loss record tells the story of an up-and-down season: 23-8 overall, 10-8 in the Big Ten. They capped the regular season with a win over Michigan State, which was preceded by two straight losses, which came on the heels of a three-game winning streak. And so on…
OSU’s fortunes underwent a sudden change when the Buckeyes dropped four conference games in a row and they seemed unable to find a consistent winning formula after that.
The Buckeyes won both matchups against the Boilermakers during the regular season, winning 78-69 in West Lafayette on New Year’s Eve and 67-49 at Value City Arena on Feb. 8.
Top-seeded Michigan heads to Indianapolis looking for its first conference tournament title since the inaugural tourney in 1998.
For the Wolverines, the last 15 years have been frustrating. They have reached the tourney semifinals twice, haven’t been back to the title game and haven’t won multiple games in the tourney since going 3-0 in ’98.
The quest to change course starts Friday against either Illinois or Indiana.
Minnesota faces Penn State and Iowa meets Northwestern in the other first-round games.
The top four seeds — Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska — have byes into Friday’s quarterfinals.