Good Hoops Morning: Buckeyes seeking revenge in the Steel City

Before every Ohio State men’s basketball game, Connor Lemons gets you ready for that day’s action with key stats, players to know, and prevalent storylines for that day’s game on the “Good Hoops Morning” podcast.

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Ohio State Buckeyes (-5.5) vs. Pitt| over/under 146.5

Game Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 p.m. ETLocation: Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaTV: ESPNRadio: 97.1 FM/ 971thefan.com

Ohio State will try to exact revenge on the Pitt Panthers Friday night at the Petersen Events Center after suffering a heartbreaking loss to them last year on Black Friday, 91-90. Last year’s game saw Ohio State flounder away leads in the final 90 seconds of regulation and overtime to eventually lose on a long three-point buzzer beater at the end of overtime. That loss was followed by the Ohio State football team’s fourth consecutive loss to Michigan less than 24 hours later.

While Ohio State is the betting favorite in this game, roads wins have not come easy for the Buckeyes in recent years. And with Pitt’s early season struggles, this game against the Panthers is no longer the marquee road game that it looked like a year ago when it was put on the schedule. Ohio State will need to take care of the ball and prevent any long scoring runs from the Panthers on their home floor if they want to improve to 7-0 on the season leading into Big Ten play.

Ohio State’s Christoph Tilly did not play the second half of the Buckeyes’ 113-60 win over Mount St. Mary’s with what Jake Diebler called a “nagging lower leg injury” but he did not seem concerned it would impact his availability for Friday’s game. Pitt’s second-leading scorer Brandon Cummings missed the Panthers’ loss to Quinnipiac with what was described as a “lower body injury” and he is considered day-to-day.

Connect with Connor: Twitter: @lemons_connor