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No. 4 Ohio St hopes to hand Purdue its first home loss

Jan 31, 2007 - 3:29 PM No. 4 Ohio St (18-3) at Purdue (14-7) 7:00 pm EST

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- Ohio State knows something about protecting its home court. Now it will try to spoil Purdue's success at Mackey Arena.

The fourth-ranked Buckeyes try to win their sixth consecutive contest and remain one game behind Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference standings Wednesday when they face the Boilermakers for the first time this season.

Ohio State (18-3, 6-1 Big Ten) has won eight of its last nine games, with the lone defeat coming against the Badgers on the road on January 9. The Buckeyes have won 21 straight at home and will host Wisconsin on February 25.

Freshman sensation Greg Oden was named the co-Big Ten Player of the Week with Wisconsin's Alando Tucker on the Monday. He made 10-of-17 shots and averaged 18 points and 11.5 rebounds to help Ohio State defeat Northwestern and Michigan State.

The Buckeyes extended their winning streak with Saturday's 66-64 triumph over the Spartans. Oden made 11-of-14 free throws and scored 19 points and Jamar Butler added 12 for Ohio State. The Boilermakers (14-7, 3-4) are looking to improve to 15-7 for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign and raise their home record to 13-0.

Purdue snapped a two-game slide with Saturday's 64-47 victory over Illinois. David Teague scored a career-high 28 points, including five 3-pointers, and Carl Landry added 17 for the Boilermakers.

Ohio State has won the past five encounters against Purdue and 11 of the last 12 in the series. The Boilermakers have not defeated the Buckeyes since January 29, 2003.