Please follow and like us: OSU guard JaQuan Lyle (13) leads the offense in the Big Ten tournament against Penn State on March 10 in Indianapolis.Credit: Lantern File Photo The Ohio State men’s basketball team has been criticized in recent years for not scheduling high-major opponents in the nonconference season. Since the 2013-14 season when OSU did not play one ranked team until conference play, coach Thad Matta and the Buckeyes have shared the court with Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia, UCONN, Memphis and Kentucky. Only one of those games (Virginia) was played in Columbus. On Tuesday, OSU announced its 2016-17 nonconference schedule, which features two familiar high-major opponents, and two other prominent programs — at Virginia, versus UConn, versus Providence and in Las Vegas against UCLA. Providence will travel to Columbus for the first time in school history when the Friars and Buckeyes meet on Nov. 17, as a part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games between Big Ten and Big East schools. This is the first meeting between the two schools since the 1990 NCAA Tournament. The Friars lost their two leading scorers from last season to the NBA: guard Kris Dunn and forward Ben Bentil. Matta’s team lost last year at home to then-No. 6 Virginia 64-58 in a closely contested game, and OSU also suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the UConn Huskies in Storrs, Connecticut, 75-55. Matta and company has its chance at revenge next season. On Nov. 30, OSU will travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, to face coach Tony Bennett’s Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State men’s basketball announces non-conference schedule
