Ohio State Buckeyes

W. Kentucky-Ohio St. Preview (Mar 14, 2017)

Published Mar. 14, 2017 9:14 p.m. ET

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AP

Co-Big Ten champion Ohio State faces an uphill climb to repeat or better last year's tournament success -- a Sweet Sixteen appearance -- but the Buckeyes have no one to blame but themselves.

An early exit in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis cost Ohio State a better seed than the No. 5 it was awarded. And now the Buckeyes (26-6, 15-1 Big Ten) get to travel to the Bluegrass State to play No. 12 seed Western Kentucky (27-6, 16-2 Conference USA) at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the University of Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum.

If the Buckeyes don't succumb to a No. 5-12-seed jinx and advance, they will face the winner of No. 4 seed Kentucky (21-10, 11-5 SEC) and No. 13 seed Belmont (27-5, 16-0 Ohio Valley Conference) on Sunday.

"Well, if we have to go on the road, certainly it's great to be able to go someplace that we don't have to go too far to and also we can get some fans to come support us," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff told The Columbus Dispatch. "So, you know, I think that's good."

This is the third straight NCAA postseason appearance for the Buckeyes under McGuff. Ohio State landed a No. 3 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 where it lost to seventh-seeded Tennessee.

The Lady Hilltoppers are no strangers to the Big Dance, having made 18 previous appearances. They've made the Sweet Sixteen six times and have three Final Fours under their belt. In 1992, they lost in the national championship game to Tara VanDerVeer's Stanford Cardinal.

Michelle Clark-Heard's squad enters this year's tournament flying high, confident that they can make a deep run. They'll put a 12-game winning streak on the line against the Buckeyes.

And even though the Buckeyes typically travel well, Clark-Heard expects WKU fans to be out in full force.

"We have a lot of Kentucky kids on our roster and to go to Lexington ... if they can come to Birmingham (for the conference tournament) they can come to Lexington."

The Lady Hilltoppers are led by a trio who average in double figures. Kendall Noble, Tashia Brown and Ivy Brown have started all 33 games and enter the postseason averaging 16.1, 13.4 and 13.3 points, respectively.

Western Kentucky will have its hands full trying to slow down the Buckeyes, who are led by Big Ten Player of the Year Kelsey Mitchell.

On Monday, the junior was named one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the country's top point guard. She leads the Buckeyes at 23 points per game and connects on 82 percent of her free throws.

"Ohio State is really good," Clark-Heard said. "And they have Kelsey Mitchell, one of the best players in the country. We'll go to work and get our game plan together and get the team ready to go."

The key to just how far Ohio State will go very well could be junior forward Stephanie Mavunga, who has been out with a foot injury for more than a month.

Ohio State's leading rebounder and the second-leading scorer's availability "could go either way" for Friday's game, McGuff said.

"It's close, but we probably won't know until Thursday or Friday."

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