Following Thursday night’s 78-69 win over Nebraska at Value City Arena, Ohio State will close out their home schedule today when they host the Michigan Wolverines. Not only will the Buckeyes be celebrating seniors Jamison Battle, Dale Bonner, Zed Key, and Owen Spencer, but Jake Diebler’s team will be looking to keep their slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive. After their win over the Cornhuskers, Ohio State has now won three of four games since moving on from head coach Chris Holtmann on Valentine’s Day. If the Buckeyes want to make the tournament, they’ll not only have to beat the Wolverines today and Rutgers next Sunday, they’ll need a strong showing in this year’s Big Ten Tournament.

After their thrilling win last Sunday at Michigan State, Ohio State was able to keep the momentum going on Thursday with a victory over Nebraska, avenging the loss to the Cornhuskers earlier this year in Lincoln. Much like the game against the Spartans when they were without Jamison Battle, the Buckeyes were missing one of their key players on Thursday night when Bruce Thornton wasn’t available to play because of a migraine.

With Thornton sidelined, Dale Bonner saw more playing time, finishing with 33 minutes played, marking just the second time this year he has been on the floor for more than 30 minutes in a game, with the first coming in the double-overtime win against Maryland.

While Thornton wasn’t able to play on Thursday, Ohio State was able to welcome Jamison Battle back to the lineup after he missed the Michigan State game. The transfer from Minnesota didn’t take long to find his shot, hitting his first three three-point attempts on his way to a season-high 32 points. Along with his three-point shooting,

Battle also hit all 10 of his free throw attempts and has now hit 50 of his last 51 free throws. As a team, Ohio State was 24 of 28 from the foul line, while Nebraska shot just eight free throws.

Jamison Battle wasn’t the only Buckeye to come up big in Thornton’s absence. Roddy Gayle Jr. recorded the first double-double of his college career, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. With his scoring output on Thursday night, Gayle is just one point shy of 400 points this season.

The sophomore from Niagara Falls is the third-leading scorer for Ohio State this year, averaging 13.8 points per game, which is only topped by Thornton and Battle. Gayle’s double-double was the fourth of the year by an Ohio State player, with Zed Key notching the first three double-doubles this season.

A huge reason why Ohio State was able to earn the victory on Thursday night was their play before and after halftime. Not only did the Buckeyes end the first half on a 12-3 run to head into the break with a 39-37 lead, they opened up the second half with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 46-37. While Nebraska was able to crawl back within a bucket on a number of occasions, Ohio State wouldn’t trail in the game after halftime.

Preview

After splitting the regular season series with Nebraska, now Ohio State will be looking to do the same with Michigan, who beat the Buckeyes 73-65 in Ann Arbor back in January. Even though Ohio State was able to take the lead in the second half after going on a 16-0 run, the Buckeyes couldn’t make the edge stick. The result might have been different had Ohio State not struggled so much from behind the arc, going just 3-25 from three-point range in the loss. Jamison Battle struggled mightily against the Wolverines, hitting just one of his eight three-point attempts on his way to finishing with five points in the game. Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with 19 points in the matinee on Martin Luther King Day.

Entering today’s contest, Ohio State holds a 101-82 advantage in the all-time series. Lately, the rivalry has been back-and-forth, as the schools have split the last 16 meetings. The score differential proves just how tight those 16 games have been, with the Buckeyes scoring 1,089 points in those games, while Michigan has scored 1,083. If Ohio State is able to win today, it will snap a three-game losing streak to the Wolverines.

Like Ohio State, Michigan also played on Thursday night. The Wolverines hit the road to take on Rutgers and were demolished by the Scarlet Knights 82-52. The loss was the sixth straight setback for Juwan Howard’s team. Dug McDaniel scored a team-high 13 points in the game, while Tarris Reed Jr. was the only other Michigan player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 12 points. Terrance Williams II added nine points and six rebounds in the loss.

In the first meeting with Ohio State, Olivier Nkamhoua led the Wolverines with 20 points in the victory back in January. Unfortunately for Michigan, Nkamhoua won’t be available to play the rest of the season after the transfer from Tennessee underwent wrist surgery a couple of weeks ago. Before suffering the injury, Nkamhoua was the team’s second-leading scorer, with his 14.8 points per game only topped by the 16.5 points per game Dug McDaniel is averaging. Nkamhoua was also a force on the glass, averaging 7.1 rebounds per contest.

With Nkamhoua on the shelf, Will Tschetter has moved into the Michigan starting lineup. In their January meeting, Tschetter scored seven points in 15 minutes off the bench. Along with Tschetter, expect Juwan Howard to start Terrance Williams II and Tarris Reed Jr. in the frontcourt, while Nimari Burnett will join Dug McDaniel at the guard positions. This will mark just the second road game McDaniel will be eligible to play in after serving a six-game suspension which consisted of only road games after he was found not to meet the school’s academic standards.

Unless the teams meet in the Big Ten Tournament, this will likely be the last time Juwan Howard leads Michigan into battle against Ohio State. After a bright start to his coaching career that saw Howard lead the Wolverines to the Elite Eight in his second year in charge of his alma mater, results haven’t met expectations since, as Michigan has lost at least 15 games in each of the last three years. After missing the first 10 games of this season due to heart surgery, the Wolverines are just 3-16 with Howard on the bench.

Prediction

Ohio State has been rejuvenated after the firing of head coach Chris Holtmann, winning three of four games under interim head coach Jake Diebler. Not only did the Buckeyes earn their first road victory in over a calendar year last Sunday, but they have won their last two games while missing a key player in each contest. Unless something unforeseen happens prior to the game, expect Ohio State to have Bruce Thornton back in the lineup for the final regular season home game for the Buckeyes.

As if Senior Day festivities and a game against their rivals weren’t enough to get up for, the Buckeyes still have an outside chance at making the NCAA Tournament. The road to the Big Dance isn’t going to be easy, but if Ohio State can win their final two games of the regular season, followed by string together a few wins in the Big Ten Tournament, it’s not crazy to think the team could miraculously make the tournament after looking dead in the water last month. To keep hope alive, beating Michigan today is imperative.

With so much at stake for the Buckeyes, it’s hard to see them laying an egg against their rival today, especially with how awful the Wolverines have been playing lately. Not only will this be the final home game for Battle, Bonner, Key, and Spencer, but it could be the final time some other Buckeyes wear the scarlet and gray in Columbus since there could be massive roster changes with a new head coach coming in for next season. All signs point to Ohio State beating a Michigan team that can’t wait for the season to end.

ESPN BPI: Ohio State 86.8%
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: CBS

LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 72, Michigan 60