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Ohio State hosts reeling Northwestern

Jan 17, 2007 - 3:46 PM Northwestern (10-7) at No. 7 Ohio St (14-3) 8:00 pm EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Needing a win in the worst way, Northwestern will be hard-pressed to end its skid against the nation's top freshman, Greg Oden.

The Wildcats look to break their four-game skid and record their first Big Ten Conference victory of the season Wednesday when they visit Oden and No. 7 Ohio State.

Northwestern (10-7, 0-4 Big Ten) has not won since conference play started, losing to Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

On Saturday, the Wildcats hung right with the third-ranked Badgers before falling short in a 56-50 setback. Freshman forward Jeff Ryan nearly made his first start a memorable one, scoring 18 points.

Ryan and the Wildcats will find that Ohio State has some impact freshmen of its own in Oden and point guard Mike Conley Jr.

A 7-0 center, Oden is averaging 14.9 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 61 percent from the field and recording 39 blocks. A high school teammate of Oden's, Conley leads the Big Ten with 109 assists, the fourth-highest mark in the country.

The Buckeyes (14-3, 2-1 Big Ten) have won four of their last five games and are coming off a thrilling 68-66 victory over No. 24 Tennessee on Saturday.

Oden and Conley had their finest games of the season against the Volunteers, leading the Buckeyes to their first win over a ranked team this season. Oden scored 24 points and added 15 rebounds while Conley had a season-high 16 points.

Ohio State leads the series all-time series, 107-44, and has won its last 13 meetings with Northwestern. The Buckeyes are the only team in the Big Ten that Wildcats coach Bill Carmody has not recorded a win against. Northwestern's last win over Ohio State came in 1998.