The game tips off at 7:15 p.m. at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will be shown on ESPN2. You can also stream the game through the Watch ESPN app. Karl Ravech and Dan Dakich are the announcing team.
Syracuse bounced back from two straight losses in the 2K Classic by beating Colgate 77-56 last Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome. Point guard Frank Howard returned to action after missing the first four Cuse contests. He scored 3 points and dished out 5 assists in 19 minutes, and the Orange offense seemed to flow a lot more smoothly than in the games he missed.
The Buckeyes, ranked No. 16 in both major polls, are rated No. 1 in the new NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings unveiled Monday. The NET will replace the RPI as the NCAA’s main statistical tool in the NCAA Tournament selection process. So a win over Ohio State would give the Orange a major win for its prospective NCAA Tournament résumé.
Ohio State beat Cleveland State 89-62 in its last outing last Friday night. The Buckeyes also have wins over Samford, South Carolina St., Creighton, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Cincinnati this season.
This will be the 8th all-time meeting between Syracuse and Ohio State on the hardwood. The Buckeyes hold a 5-2 lead in the series and have won the last two matchups. The last time the programs squared off was in the 2012 NCAA Tournament East Regional final in Boston — a 77-70 Buckeyes win.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com
BJNN file photo by Adam Rombel