No. 7 seed Ohio State will open Big Ten tournament play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 10 seed Penn State on ESPN2.
The winner will play No. 2 seed Michigan State, which closed the regular season with a 91-76 home victory against the Buckeyes on Saturday, in a quarterfinal game Friday evening. The Nittany Lions clinched the No. 10 seed and avoided playing on the first day of the tournament with a double-overtime, 86-79 win against Illinois.
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In 11 tournament appearances under coach Thad Matta, Ohio State has advanced to the championship game seven times and won four of them.