Northwestern Basketball Continues Road Swing at Ohio State

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Thursday, Feb. 9	Ohio State	7 p.m. CT	Value City Arena Columbus, Ohio	FS1	Live Stats
Radio: WGN Radio 720 \| Twitter: @NUMensBball \| Instagram: @numensbball \| Digital Game Program

EVANSTON, Ill. – Winners of four of its last six games, Northwestern continues its Big Ten road swing at Ohio State at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Feb. 8, inside Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The matchup will be televised on FS1 and will heard over the air on WGN Radio 720. Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analyst) will call the game on FS1, while Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Billy McKinney (analyst) will call the contest on WGN Radio 720 and Sirius XM Channel 381.

NU's record this season through 23 games (16-7, 7-5 B1G) is the second-best in school history, trailing only the 2016-17 team (18-5) which reached the program's first NCAA Tournament. This year's 7-5 conference record is the best through 12 league games since the 2016-17 team went 8-4.

Last time out, Northwestern won its fourth Big Ten road game of the season, knocking off Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, 54-52. The win gave the Wildcats their first season sweep of the Badgers since 1995-96. Boo Buie led the Wildcats, scoring 13 points, including draining four free-throws inside the last 31 seconds to seal the victory. Northwestern received key contributions off the bench, including eight points from Brooks Barnhizer and six points from Nick Martinelli. Tydus Verhoeven logged a season-high 24 minutes as well, notching a crucial block with 20 seconds left. The win gave Chris Collins his fourth career win at the Kohl Center, third-most among active Big Ten coaches, trailing only Tom Izzo (10) and Matt Painter (5).

Sunday night marked the 11th time this season that Northwestern has held its opponent to 60 or fewer points this season, tying its most in a single-season since 2017-18. Northwestern improved its record to 10-1 when holding its opponents to fewer than 60 points this season.

Boo Buie has scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games this season, including 17 straight. The Senior guard logged 39 minutes of action on Sunday, night, tying a career-high. Buie is one of just three players in the Big Ten leading his team in points per game (16.1) and assists per game (4.5), joining Jahmir Young (Maryland) and Jalen Pickett (Penn State).

Chase Audige was one of ten players nationally named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List on January 26. His 2.5 steals per game are most in the Big Ten and rank sixth nationally. His 137 steals in a Northwestern uniform rank eighth in school history, just four behind Craig Moore for seventh place in the Wildcat record books. His 58 thefts this season are tied for sixth most in a single-season in a Wildcat uniform, one behind Pat Baldwin's 1994 output of 59 pilfers.

Buie leads the Big Ten in free throw percentage, shooting 89.7% from the charity stripe, while Audige ranks third in the league, making 84.7% of his foul shots. Buie (16.1) and Audige (15.3) are the only duo in the Big Ten averaging 15 points per game apiece. No Wildcat duo has achieved that feat since John Shurna (20.0) and Drew Crawford (16.1) did so in 2011-12.

The Buckeyes lead the all-time series against the Wildcats, 129-48. Northwestern is looking to snap a four-game skid in Columbus, last winning 87-77 on Dec. 27, 2016. NU last defeated Ohio State, then ranked No. 23, 71-70 on Dec. 26, 2020, inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. Earlier this season, Northwestern was unable to overcome a slow start in a 73-57 defeat to OSU.

The Buckeyes (11-12, 3-9 B1G) have struggled as of late, losing four in a row and nine of their last ten. Brice Sensabaugh paces OSU offensively, averaging 17.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The freshman was named to the Julius Erving Award Top 10 this week, awarded annually to the nation's best small forward. Zed Key leads the team on the glass, hauling in 7.7 rebounds per game, eighth-most in the Big Ten.

Northwestern returns home on Sunday, February 12, when it hosts No. 1 Purdue at 1 p.m. CT on BTN inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is sold out.

Northwestern Basketball Continues Road Swing at Ohio State

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Players Mentioned

Chase Audige

Brooks Barnhizer

Boo Buie

Nick Martinelli

Tydus Verhoeven

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics