COLUMBUS, Ohio – Thad Matta, now in his 10th season as head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, revealed the complete 2013-14 Ohio State men’s basketball schedule Wednesday.
Ohio State has won three of the last four Big Ten regular-season titles along with three of the last four postseason tournament championships. Matta said an experienced roster of upperclassmen will be challenged by the 2013-14 schedule.
“The makeup of our team this year gives us another opportunity to be successful in the Big Ten and nationally,” Matta said. “Once again our league is extraordinarily talented across the board. We are fortunate to have a veteran group this year who have been through the rigors of the conference season and have been successful in postseason play.”
The Buckeyes open the 2013-14 season vs. Morgan State Nov. 9 at Value City Arena. The Big Ten campaign, the 102nd for Ohio State as a league member, opens Dec. 31 at Purdue. An exhibition game vs. Walsh is scheduled for 4 p.m. Nov. 3 at Value City Arena.
Also highlighting the non-conference schedule will be a home game vs. Ohio Nov. 12, a road trip to Marquette Nov. 16, a home contest in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Dec. 4 vs. Maryland and a neutral site game against Notre Dame in the Gotham Classic Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The game vs. the Fighting Irish is the final of the Gotham Classic. Three games will be played in Columbus as part of the event. Ohio State hosts Bryant (Dec. 11), North Dakota State (Dec. 14) and Delaware (Dec. 18) before traveling to face Notre Dame.
Ohio State will play at least 11 games this season vs. eight teams that played in the 2013 NCAA Tournament with seven of those games taking place away from Columbus against Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Marquette and vs. Norte Dame in New York.
In addition to the 2013 NCAA Tournament foes, the 2013-14 schedule has four games against 2013 National Invitation Tournament participants, including a a pair of matchups against Iowa, who advanced to the NIT title game a year ago. Intrastate foe Ohio University along with future Big Ten opponent Maryland also made the NIT field last season. The Terrapins fell to Iowa in the semifinals while the Bobcats fell to Denver in opening round action.
Ohio State begins its quest for a sixth regular-season league crown under Matta’s direction when it opens Big Ten regular-season competition at Purdue New Year’s Eve. The Buckeyes will play four of the first six games on the road in league play before ending the season with five of eight games in Columbus. Michigan State will travel to Columbus for the regular-season finale March 9.
The conference returned to the lengthier conference schedule in 2008 after playing a 16-game schedule from 1998-2007. With Nebraska joining the league in 2011, the Buckeyes will again take on seven league foes twice while playing Wisconsin and Indiana once each on the road and taking on Northwestern and Michigan once each at Value City Arena.
A LOOK AT THE BUCKEYES
- The Buckeyes, who won their third Big Ten tournament title in four years last season, finished second in the regular-season league standings with a 13-5 conference mark and an overall record of 29-8. Ohio State narrowly missed a trip to back-to-back Final Fours a year ago with a loss to Wichita State in the Elite Eight in Los Angeles.
- Ohio State returns four starters and five of the top six offensive players from a year ago. The Buckeyes finished 29-8 overall and advanced to at least the NCAA “Sweet 16” for the fourth-consecutive season, an accomplishment unmatched by any other program nationally.
- Seniors Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr., along with juniors LaQuinton Ross, Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott are the top returning upperclassmen.
- Sophomore Amedeo Della Valle had a productive summer leading Italy to the U20 European Championships. He earned MVP honors along the way.
- Newcomers Marc Loving, a 6-7 forward from Toledo, Ohio, and Kameron Williams, a 6-3 guard from Baltimore, Md., will have the opporunity to gain experience under veteran leadership.
- Craft made the Big Ten all-defensive team for the second time a season ago. He also has earned back-to-back CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America accolades heading into his senior season. He was the academic All-America of the Year in Division I men’s basketball a season ago after winning the Elite 89 Award as a sophomore for the top grade-point average in the 2011 Final Four.
SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for 2013-14 for new buyers are on sale now. For more information, contact the Ohio State athletics ticket sales department by calling 1-800-GOBUCKS (select option 2). Fans will be directed to a sales representative who can discuss seating options over the phone or schedule a time to tour the Jerome Schottenstein Center to pick out seats.
2013-14 Ohio State Men’s Basketball Schedule
| DATE | OPPONENT | TV | TIME |
| NOVEMBER | |||
| 3 | Walsh (exh.) | TBA | 4 p.m. |
| 9 | Morgan State | TBA | Noon |
| 12 | Ohio University | TBA | 8 p.m. |
| 16 | at Marquette | TBA | TBD |
| 20 | American | TBA | 7:30 p.m. |
| 25 | Wyoming | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| 29 | North Florida | TBA | 5 p.m. |
| DECEMBER | |||
| 4 | Maryland 1 | ESPN/2 | 7 p.m. |
| 7 | Central Conn. State | TBA | 4:30 p.m. |
| 11 | Bryant 2 | TBA | 7:30 p.m. |
| 14 | North Dakota State 2 | TBA | 8:15 p.m. |
| 18 | Delaware 2 | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| 21 | vs. Notre Dame 3 | TBA | 7:30 p.m. |
| 27 | Louisiana-Monroe | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| 31 | at Purdue | ESPN2 | 1 p.m. |
| JANUARY | |||
| 4 | Nebraska | TBA | Noon |
| 7 | at Michigan State | ESPN | 9 p.m. |
| 12 | Iowa | CBS | 1 or 4:30 p.m. |
| 16 | at Minnesota | ESPN2 | 9 p.m. |
| 20 | at Nebraska | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| 23 | Illinois | ESPN/2 | 7 p.m. |
| 29 | Penn State | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| FEBRUARY | |||
| 1 | at Wisconsin | ESPN/2 | Noon |
| 4 | at Iowa | ESPN/2 | 7 p.m. |
| 8 | Purdue | TBA | 6 p.m. |
| 11 | Michigan | ESPN | 9 p.m. |
| 15 | at Illinois | TBA | 8 p.m. |
| 19 | Northwestern | TBA | 7 p.m. |
| 22 | Minnesota | TBA | 6 or 8 p.m. |
| 27 | at Penn State | ESPN/2 | 7 p.m. |
| MARCH | |||
| 2 | at Indiana | TBA/CBS | Noon/4 p.m. |
| 9 | Michigan State | TBA/CBS | Noon/4:30 p.m. |
| 13-16 | Big Ten Tournament 4 | TBA | TBA |
| Home Games in Bold | |||
| 1 – Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Columbus, Ohio | |||
| 2 – Gotham Classic, Columbus, Ohio | |||
| 3 – Gotham Classic, Madison Square Garden, N.Y. | |||
| 4 – Big Ten Tournament, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis | |||
