Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes preparing for huge road trip
By Jacob Rhymer
The Ohio State basketball team picked up a nice home win over Penn State on Saturday to end their three-game losing streak. Now the Buckeyes must look ahead to this upcoming week of basketball as it will not be easy, and could be the turning point of the season if things go well.
After coming home for one game in front of Buckeye Nation, the Ohio State basketball team will now hit the road for a pair of games this week. Today the Buckeyes travel to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers, then on Saturday, they'll head to Evanston to face Northwestern for their second test of the week.
First, let's talk about the Ohio State basketball game tonight against Nebraska. The Buckeyes have had success in Lincoln since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten with a 7-2 record in Pinnacle Bank Arena. One of those two losses came a season ago, however, when the Ohio State basketball team lost 63-60 in a thriller.
Although the Buckeyes have picked up some quality road wins in previous seasons, this Nebraska team they will be facing tonight is not comparable to past teams Ohio State has faced. Just four games ago Nebraska upset, at the time, No. 1 Purdue beating them by 16 points on their home floor. They currently sit at 14-5 overall with a 4-4 conference record as well.
Nebraska also has a Big Ten First Team caliber player in Keisei Tominaga who is averaging 14.5 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the field and 38.1% from three. He shoots nearly 40% from three in games at home, so if the Buckeyes aren't careful with him they could be in trouble.
On Saturday, the Ohio State basketball team will face a Northwestern team that, like Nebraska, beat Purdue. The Buckeyes must be prepared for a physical, grind-it-out game as Northwestern plays at one of the slowest paces in all of college basketball. The Wildcats are 13-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten.
This is a very important set of games for the Ohio State basketball team as it could be the turning point of the season. A win against Nebraska would earn the Buckeyes a Quad-1 win, and a win over Northwestern would be Quad-2 at the moment. The Buckeyes only have a 1-5 record against Quad-1 and Quad-2 teams, so even just one win in these next two games this week could go a long way for this team.
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If you want to catch the Buckeyes trying to go for two straight wins tonight at Nebraska, you'll be able to find them on Peacock. According to FanDuel, Nebraska is a three-point favorite over Ohio State. It's never easy to win on the road, especially in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will look to overcome their road struggles and start this road trip off with a win.