No. 11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-0, 2-0) at
No. 20/23 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1, 0-1)
Wednesday, December 23 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Value City Arena | Columbus, Ohio
TV: BTN (Dave Revsine, play-by-play; Stephen Bardo, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/Sirius 138/ XM 196, Chris Carlin & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Raj Shah and Brant Wolff)
No. 11/12 Rutgers men's basketball heads back to the road for a Wednesday afternoon tip-off at No. 23/20 Ohio State. The game tips off at 4:30 p.m. on BTN. RU vaulted up eight spots in the national rankings to No. 11 in the AP Poll, the team's highest ranking since the Final Four season of 1975-76. The Scarlet Knights are the third highest ranked of the seven ranked Big Ten teams, with 11 overall either ranked or receiving votes.
The Scarlet Knights enter the matchup unbeaten at 6-0 overall and are the lone 2-0 team in the Big Ten. RU started the past week with a 74-60 win at Maryland, the program's first win in College Park since joining the league. On Sunday, Rutgers earned its first ranked win of the season by defeating No. 13 Illinois, 91-88, the program's second highest ranked win under head coach
Steve Pikiell and eighth ranked win overall in that span. This marked the first time a ranked Rutgers team beat a ranked foe since March 6, 1976, a 70-67 win over St. John's.
Ron Harper Jr. led the way against Illinois with 28 points. The junior has excelled this season with 24.0 points per game, second in the conference and fifth in the nation in scoring. He is the top three-point shooter in the league (52.5 percent). He posted 27 and 28 points in the two games last week on 59 percent shooting, including strong second half performances (22 and 19 points respectively) to help RU close out the wins. The Wooden Award Watch List member has scored at least 15 points in every game this season, and at least 25 points in four of the six games.
Myles Johnson has excelled in the paint for the Scarlet Knights with three straight games of double-digit rebounds, averaging 13.7 boards in that stretch. He also leads the conference with 2.67 blocks per game. Overall, the Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten 11th nationally in blocks (5.8).
Jacob Young posted 24 points in the win over the Illini and ran his double-digit scoring streak to five games. The senior is second in the league in steals (2.67), in addition to his 16.5 points per game ranking eighth.
The 88 points against the Illini were the most in a conference for RU in a regulation contest since joining the league. The team currently boasts an adjusted efficiency in the top-25 in the nation on both offense and defense.
The game against Illinois marked the first contest in a stretch where five out of six opponents are ranked. Rutgers' remaining strength of schedule is ranked as the eighth toughest in the nation.
Ohio State enters the contest at 6-1 overall, with its lone loss at Purdue, and are coming off a 77-70 win over UCLA on Saturday. Their non-conference slate also featured a win over Notre Dame. The Buckeyes are led by Duane Washington Jr. (14.4 ppg) and E.J. Liddell (14.2 ppg). OSU averages just 9.1 turnovers per game, fifth in the nation, and are the best free throw shooting team in the conference (77.0 percent).
Series Record: Ohio State leads 8-3
Last Meeting: Ohio State 72, Rutgers 66 (February 12, 2020)
Wednesday marks the 12th meeting in the series, with OSU holding a 8-3 advantage. There was just one matchup last season, coming in Columbus, a 72-66 Buckeyes victory. In that contest, RU overcame a 20 point deficit to battle back within three points. The teams had met just once prior to RU joining the Big Ten, a 97-96 overtime victory for the Scarlet Knights on Dec. 30, 1978 at Madison Square Garden. Rutgers claimed a 66-57 win over OSU in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament in Washington, D.C., that was the Scarlet Knights' first Big Ten Tournament victory. RU also defeated No. 16 OSU on January 9, 2018 at The RAC.
