After their football team took home a national title on Monday night, the Ohio State men’s basketball team hopes to keep up the momentum for the Buckeyes when they visit No. 11 Purdue at Mackey Arena as part of a three-game slate tonight on Peacock. The Buckeyes and the Boilermakers kick off game action at 7:30pm ET, followed by Marquette vs Seton Hall and Wisconsin vs UCLA.
Tonight marks the first meeting between the two teams since Ohio State upset Purdue, then ranked No. 2 in the nation, last February — before that, the Boilermakers had won the last four straight against the Buckeyes. The game was Jake Diebler’s first as interim head coach at Ohio State, and he’s since taken over the full-time job and signed to a five-year contract.
This year’s Ohio State squad is coming off a tough string of narrow losses: they’ve fallen in their last three, by a combined total of 5 points. Those losses have come against two ranked opponents — then-No. 15 Oregon, and then-No. 24 Wisconsin, — and in overtime, by one point, against Indiana. The Buckeyes are 1-4 in one possession games this season.
“I think we fight. We play hard. We play tough. We need to play smarter,” Diebler said last week. “I think we’re resilient, yes. We’ll see that in the results column when we can play smarter. We’re not in these situations over and over and over again if we weren’t resilient.”
Meanwhile Purdue comes into tonight’s game on a seven-game winning streak, tied for second-longest active streak in the Big Ten (Michigan State is currently on an 11-game winning streak, while Wisconsin has also won seven straight). The Boilermakers are 2nd in the Big Ten behind one of the best teams in the country, No. 8 Michigan State.
They’ve been powered by a dominant backcourt duo in junior guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, with senior forward Caleb Furst describing Smith as “the head of the snake for us, both offensively and defensively.” Smith is the only player in D-I with 250+ points, 150+ assists and 75+ rebounds this season.
READ MORE: Auburn a unanimous No. 1, Duke now No. 2; Michigan St into top 10, Louisville ends AP Top 25 drought
How to Watch Ohio State vs No. 11 Purdue Men’s College Basketball
- Date: Tonight, January 21st
- Time: 7:30pm ET
- Streaming: Peacock
Men’s College Basketball Schedule Tonight on Peacock
Coverage begins with College Countdown at 7:00pm ET on Peacock
- 7:30pm ET: Ohio State vs Purdue
- 8:00pm ET: Marquette vs Seton Hall
- 9:30pm ET: Wisconsin vs UCLA
How to watch College Basketball on Peacock
You can watch college basketball games by first subscribing to Peacock. Then, either go to PeacockTV.com/Sports in your web browser or download the Peacock app on your phone, tablet, or streaming device and navigate to the Sports section. Find the LIVE game you want to watch and start streaming.
Painter proud of Purdue’s defensive improvement
Matt Painter talks with Kira K. Dixon after Purdue’s win against Oregon, touching on his team’s poise in a road ranked win.
