Northwestern hosts Ohio State Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in what could be an early January bubble showdown. Both teams have the résumés of fringe NCAA Tournament contenders, but will need big win in Big Ten play to put themselves in the conversation. Wednesday is an opportunity for the first of those.
Northwestern is coming off its first conference loss, a not particularly close contest at home against Maryland, while Ohio State has won its previous six contests, including an impressive victory over then-No. 4 Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Ohio State has won 10 straight against Northwestern dating back to 2009, and most of the match-ups were not especially close.