Wildcats Host Buckeyes Wednesday at Welsh-Ryan

1/5/2016 12:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

NU continues stretch of four home games over five-game span

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Wed., Jan. 6	Ohio State	8 p.m.	Welsh-Ryan Arena	BTN and BTN2GO	SIDEARM
ESPN 1000, Sirius 83, XM 195: Dave Eanet and Joey Meyer BTN: Brian Anderson and Seth Davis Social: Twitter (@NUMensBball and @NU_SportsLIVE) \| Instagram (@numensbball) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Ohio State

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Skip Myslenski's Game Preview

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern continues its stretch of four home games over a five-game span on Wednesday as it hosts Ohio State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

The Wildcats and the Buckeyes have engaged in numerous entertaining contests in Evanston recently. Four of the last five meetings between the teams at Welsh-Ryan Arena have been decided by three points or less. Ohio State won the lone meeting between the teams a year ago, posting a 69-67 triumph on Jan. 22 in Evanston. Alex Olah paced the Wildcats with 16 points, while D'Angelo Russell scored 33 for OSU.

Northwestern (13-2, 1-1 B1G) enters Wednesday's game with the second-best 15-game start to a season in school history. The 1930-31 Wildcats started 14-1 en route to a 16-1 season and a Big Ten championship.

Northwestern is coming off a 72-59 loss to No. 4 Maryland in its Big Ten home opener last Saturday. Bryant McIntosh posted 17 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals but early turnovers and a cold shooting night from 3-point range hampered the Wildcats in the defeat. NU came into the game averging 10.0 3-point field goals per contest but connected on only two of its 20 attempts in the contest. Northwestern appeared primed to make a run at the Terrapins on multiple occasions in the second half, but the duo of Melo Trimble (24 points) and Rasheed Sulaimon (16) helped Maryland snap the Wildcats' 13-game home winning streak and 10-game winning streak overall.

Through games played Monday, Northwestern ranks third in the nation with a 1.80 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Wildcats have handed out 277 assists to only 154 turnovers this season. Bryant McIntosh ranks ninth in the nation with an average of 7.1 assists per game. McIntosh has dished out at least eight assists in a game nine times this season, including each of the last six contests. He has 106 assists this year. The school single-season record is 157 assists by Tim Doyle during the 2006-07 campaign.

Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes (10-5, 2-0 B1G) won their sixth in a row and improved to 2-0 in Big Ten play on Sunday when they held off visiting Illinois for a 75-73 victory. Marc Loving led Ohio State with a career-high 27 points and paces the team with an average of 15.2 points per game. Keita Bates-Diop contributes 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Ohio State ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 6.2 blocked shots per game, paced by Daniel Giddins who is third in the league with an average 2.3 blocks. Thad Matta is in his 12th year as the head coach of the Buckeyes.