No. 14 Ohio State To Wrap Up Nonconference Slate With No. 10 TCU 

No. 14 Ohio State (16-2, 6-1 Big Ten) has had a nearly ideal start to Big Ten play, winning six of its first seven conference games, which includes a massive road win over No. 12 Maryland on Jan. 11. With a good finish to Big Ten play, the Buckeyes could find themselves competing for the conference’s regular-season crown. However, before they worry about their final 11 Big Ten regular-season games, the Buckeyes must shift their focus to their final nonconference game, a neutral-site matchup against No. 10 TCU (18-1, 6-1 Big 12) at Noon on Monday.

“It’s a great opportunity, they have an excellent team and a great program and they have a really older, mature team,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said of TCU after his team’s 108-84 win over Penn State on Jan. 14. “They’ve done a great job with the portal, and they have a lot of talent. It’ll be a very challenging game for us.” 

Despite losing nine players from its Elite Eight team last year, the Horned Frogs are still one of the most consistent teams in the country. Led by two-time All-America guard Olivia Miles, who averages team-high totals of 19.0 points per game, 7.3 assists per game and 7.0 rebounds per game, the Horned Frogs rank No. 19 in the country in scoring offense (82.2 points per game) and No. 3 in the country, allowing just 52.5 points per game.

The Horned Frogs haven’t played many high-caliber opponents this season, but have mostly handled business against lesser competition. In its fourth game of the season, TCU defeated then No. 10 NC State on the road as part of a 14-game winning streak to open the season. The Horned Frogs’ lone loss came on the road against Utah. Miles shot 12-24 from the field in the 87-77 loss to score a game-high 32 points, but the rest of her team shot just 16-51 (31.4 percent) from the field.

The Horned Frogs responded nicely from that loss, picking up wins over Oklahoma State and Arizona State, before needing a buzzer-beating three-point shot from graduate forward Marta Suarez to beat West Virginia 51-50 on Jan. 14. The Buckeyes also defeated West Virginia in a similarly dramatic fashion earlier this year. In a Nov. 26 matchup against the Mountaineers in the Bahamas, Ohio State overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, to win 83-81.

TCU’s most recent win was a bit more comfortable. The Horned Frogs defeated Arizona at home on Saturday, 78-62, to extend their winning streak to four games.

The game, which will be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., as part of the Coretta Scott King Classic, will be broadcast live on Fox.