The Ohio State Buckeyes are still No. 2 in the country, but after their road loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, Thad Matta's team is looking to get back on track. That all starts Wednesday evening when the team hosts the USC Upstate Spartans in a men's basketball game scheduled for a 7:30 tip-off on the Big Ten Network.
Jared Sullinger is expected to possibly return for the game after missing the last two outings with back spasms, but this game is more of a cool-down game according to the experts at Along The Olentangy.
USC Upstate should provide a good opportunity for the Buckeyes to break out of their shooting slump. The Spartans are a blatant cupcake, scheduled, no doubt, to follow the tough Kansas road trip. Sophomore forwardTorrey Craig leads the Spartans in pointer per game and rebounds. Without Sullinger, Craig may have some success against the Buckeye interior, but not enough to facilitate the upset. Ohio State simply out-talents the Spartans at every position.
The Buckeyes will also likely lean heavily on William Buford, Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas -- at least in the early goings -- as they look to get out to a big lead and then rest later in the second half.