| Tipoff: | 7:00PM ET |
|---|---|
| Previews: | 11W |
| Favorite: | Miami (-8) |
| Television: | ESPN |
| Radio: | OSU Basketball Affiliates |
Ohio State will be looking to improve their ACC/B10 Challenge record to 3-5 overall, when they make the quick trip down to Miami to face the #22 Hurricanes.
Miami has yet to win a game in their two previous challenge tries, but have won 28 of their last 30 home games against unranked OOC opponents. The ACC holds a 33-4 mark at home during the ESPN made-for-TV event.
The young Buckeyes hopefully packed their offensive gymbags, after getting trounced by Texas A&M, Butler and UNC last year around this time. If you remember, Thad's boys went bucketless during large stretches in each of those games and averaged just 49 points. The 'Canes start 2 seniors and 3 juniors, so this looks to be another daunting early season task for Ohio State.
With the most recent Buckeye offensive output still fresh on my mind, I don't have a great feeling about pulling off the upset against a veteran team such as Miami. The defense should be there, but I just can't see enough points being scored by the Bucks. However, that doesn't mean we still can't discuss the game as it goes on and look to see if a couple of aspects of this team can emerge.
Three burning questions:
- Which David Lighty and Jon Diebler will show up tonight?
- Can Evan Turner and Dallas Swatterdale continue their improvement?
- Can either Jeremie Simmons or Anthony Crater drive and dish to get the stagnant offense a jump start?
