Game Preview: No. 23 Ohio State vs. UMASS-Lowell

The Ohio State Buckeyes are ready for their second game of the season, this time with UMASS-Lowell making the trip to Columbus.

The Ohio State men's basketball team is preparing to play its first ever game inside the Covelli Center on Sunday when UMASS-Lowell (1-1) comes to town. The Buckeyes (1-0) are playing in the state-of-the-art, second year facility because the hockey team is scheduled to play at Value City Arena on Saturday. Ohio State was originally scheduled to play in the season-opening tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., but they backed out of the tournament because of travel restrictions brought about by CoVID-19.

The Covelli Center is the home to Ohio State men's and women's volleyball, men's and women's gymnastics, fencing and wrestling programs. This is the second ever basketball game played in the facility, which opened prior to the 2019 fall sports season. After the Buckeyes (1-0) started the season with a win over the Illinois State Redbirds, 94-67, Illinois State turned around and beat UMASS-Lowell 82-72 at Covelli the following day.

The River Hawks won their opening game of the season against San Francisco in Uncasville, Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Bubbleville Tournament, 78-68.

General Info

Date: November 29, 2020
Where: Covelli Center (Columbus, Ohio)
Tipoff: 12:00 p.m.

How to Watch/Listen

Television: Big Ten Network
Streaming: FOX Sports Go

Radio: Ohio State Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Flagship: WBNS 97.1 The Fan
Announcers: Paul Keels (play-by-play), Ron Stokes (analyst)

Series History

2019: No. 10 Ohio State - 76, UMASS-Lowell - 56
2014: No. 20 Ohio State - 92, UMASS-Lowell - 55

Coaching Matchup

* Chris Holtmann (Career Record: 181-119 in tenth season, Ohio State Record: 67-34 in fourth season)
* Pat Duquette (Career Record: 85-128 in eighth season, UML Record: Same)

Ohio State Team Capsule

The Buckeyes raced out to a 22-0 lead over Illinois State last weekend in their season-opener. Justice Sueing led the Buckeyes offensively, while E.J. Liddell and Kyle Young played well. Here is the box score from the season-opener.

Sueing, who made his Ohio State debut on Wednesday after sitting out last season after transferring from Cal, made eight of his nine field goal attempts and tied with Kyle Young for the team lead in rebounds with eight. Young added eight points and made three of his five field goal attempts.

A total of 13 players saw playing time for the Buckeyes and 11 of them registered at least one point. Making their Ohio State debuts were Sueing, Key, Eugene Brown III, Jimmy Sotos and Jansen Davidson.

The Buckeye defense limited Illinois State to 38.6 percent shooting (22 of 57) and outrebounded the Redbirds 43-33.

Ohio State is 24-2 in non-conference games during the Chris Holtmann era.

UMASS-Lowell Team Capsule

The River Hawks hail from the America East Conference and are coming off a 13-19 campaign last year. Senior guard Obadiah Noel, one of three returning starters this year, is one of the top returning players in the America East Conference. He averaged more than 18 points per game last season. Sophomore forward Connor Withers and sophomore guard Ron Mitchell are the other returning starters.

Noel dropped 22 in the season opener against San Francisco and followed it with a 35-point performance in a losing effort on Saturday against Illinois State. Withers scored 15 in that game and followed it up with an 11-point, 9-rebound effort. 

The River Hawks are still a fairly new Division I program after they made the move up from Division II. Their first season at DI was the 2013-14 season.

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