The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Virginia Cavaliers meet up for what is a must-win game for the Buckeyes.
The time is now for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team.
They have had a season-saving week so far when they had a very hard fought vicotry over the USC Trojans on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, their victory over Northwestern was flipped to a Quad 1 victory.
As it stands right now, the Buckeyes are on the outside looking in for a place in the tournament, and they have a seven-game stretch to get it done. That stretch starts today.
Over the final seven games in the last two weeks of the year, Ohio State faces five Quad 1 teams and two Quad 2 teams. In that stretch, the Buckeyes need to at least go 3-2 in Quad 1 games and 2-0 in the Quad 2 matchups.
If they do that, they will head into the Big Ten Tournament with a 21-8 record and a chance to get a couple more conference victories.
Today in Nashville starts that journey.
Ohio State takes the floor in the Nashville Hoops Showdown against the 21-3 Virginia Cavaliers, who are ranked No. 15 in the country.
Virginia is currently ranked second in the loaded ACC, just one game behind the Duke Blue Devils. Their three losses on the year were all really major surprises when they stubbed their toe against Butler, rival Virginia, and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
While they want those games back, they have responded to each of them in impressive fashion.
Since losing to the Tar Heels on Jan 25, they have ripped off five straight victories. While they are in the midst of a hot winning streak, this team isn't unbeatable.
They have registered three-point victories over the lowly Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Boston College Golden Eagles.
Stylistically, these two teams are very similar to each other. While the Buckeyes average 81.6 points per game, the Cavaliers put up 81.9 points per game. Defensively, Virginia is just a touch better than Ohio State, giving up 67.5 points compared to Ohio State's 73.7.
The major problem the Ohio State will have to deal with is with Virginia's leading scorer Thijs De Ridder, who stands at 6'9 and is averaging 16.1 points per contest, and will be a matchup nightmare for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State will need to have its A-Game on Saturday night in a game that they have to have. It is the first step on their path to get back into the tournament. That dream stays alive if they come out on top over Virginia.
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