Houston, Ohio State meet in Second Round

No. 11 seed Ohio State (20-14) vs. No. 3 seed Houston (32-3)

NCAA Tournament Second Round, Bank of Oklahoma Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Sunday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: A ticket to the Sweet 16 will get punched as Ohio State is preparing to face Houston. Houston earned an 84-55 win over Georgia State in its most recent game, while Ohio State emerged with a 62-59 win against Iowa State in its last outing.

SENIOR STUDS: Houston’s Corey Davis Jr., Armoni Brooks and Galen Robinson Jr. have combined to account for 50 percent of the team’s scoring this season, including 53 percent of all Cougars points over the last five games.

WATCH OUT FOR WESSON: Kaleb Wesson has connected on 34.8 percent of the 69 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 2 for 7 over the last three games. He’s also converted 73.7 percent of his foul shots this season.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: Ohio State is a perfect 11-0 when it holds an opponent to 61 points or fewer. The Buckeyes are 9-14 when opponents score more than 61.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Buckeyes have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Cougars. Houston has an assist on 38 of 73 field goals (52.1 percent) over its previous three contests while Ohio State has assists on 53 of 75 field goals (70.7 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Houston defense has allowed only 61.1 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Cougars seventh among Division I teams. The Ohio State offense has averaged 69.4 points through 34 games (ranked 245th, nationally).