Royal and Ohio State host Northwestern

Northwestern Wildcats (13-13, 4-11 Big Ten) at Ohio State Buckeyes (15-11, 7-8 Big Ten)

Columbus, Ohio; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Buckeyes -10.5; over/under is 143.5

BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State hosts Northwestern after Devin Royal scored 26 points in Ohio State's 86-83 loss to the Michigan Wolverines.

The Buckeyes have gone 10-5 at home. Ohio State ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 23.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Royal averaging 4.8.

The Wildcats are 4-11 against Big Ten opponents. Northwestern has a 5-2 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

Ohio State's average of 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.9 more made shots on average than the 7.4 per game Northwestern allows. Northwestern averages 73.5 points per game, 1.4 more than the 72.1 Ohio State allows to opponents.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bruce Thornton is scoring 17.4 points per game with 3.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Buckeyes. Micah Parrish is averaging 15.5 points over the last 10 games.

Nick Martinelli is averaging 19.8 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Wildcats. Ty Berry is averaging 15.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Buckeyes: 5-5, averaging 78.1 points, 30.8 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points per game.

Wildcats: 3-7, averaging 73.3 points, 30.6 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.1 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.