Scarlet and Game
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Ohio State basketball looks to keep momentum vs. Northwestern

By Ryan Stano

Ohio State Buckeyes forward E.J. Liddell (32) is guarded by Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Mamadou Doucoure (11) during the second half of Wednesday's NCAA Division I basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 23, 2020. Ohio State won the game 80-68.Osu Mbk Vs Rutgers Bjp
Ohio State Buckeyes forward E.J. Liddell (32) is guarded by Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Mamadou Doucoure (11) during the second half of Wednesday's NCAA Division I basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Oh. on December 23, 2020. Ohio State won the game 80-68.Osu Mbk Vs Rutgers Bjp /
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The Ohio State basketball team is coming off their biggest win of the season. The problem is, so is Northwestern. Can the Buckeyes keep their momentum going?

The Ohio State basketball team is coming off an excellent comeback win against a really good Rutgers team. Ohio State was down 16 points with under 16 minutes to go and came back to win by 12. It was their best win of this relatively young season.

Now they go to Evanston to face a Northwestern team that is equally hot. Northwestern has started this season very strongly. They are 5-1 and have beaten fourth-ranked Michigan State and Indiana in their last two games. Their only loss is to Pitt by one.

This is yet another tough game for the Buckeyes. The Big Ten is so good this year that there won’t be any easy games within the league. It helps that E.J. Liddell has been back the last two games. He scored 21 points in the victory over Rutgers and is the Buckeyes’ best player.

Northwestern is a team that has very balanced scoring. They have four players that average double digits and six players that average at least points. If Ohio State is going to win this game, they are going to have to play some really good defense, especially around the three-point line.

The Wildcats have three players who shoot over 50% from three. Defending the three-point line is something that Ohio State has struggled to do this season. They will lose if that continues today. Ohio State doesn’t shoot well enough from deep to go toe-to-toe with someone from three.

Prediction: Ohio State 82 Northwestern 78

If the Buckeyes wouldn’t have come back to beat Rutgers the way they did on Wednesday night, I wouldn’t have picked them to win this game. But they showed me something that I didn’t know that they had. That resolve is the reason they win today against another tough opponent.

I’m interested to see how much playing time Seth Towns has today as well. He played four minutes and scored his first points in two years on Wednesday. Towns getting back into the swing of things is big for this team’s ceiling.

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The game is at 2 pm on FS1 and the Fox Sports App.

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