# 2015–16 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Thad Matta, in his 12th season with the Buckeyes. They played its home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 21–14, 11–7 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Michigan State. They received an invitation to the National Invitational tournament where they defeated Akron in the first round to advance to the second round where they lost to Florida.

## Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2014–15 season 24–11, 11–7 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament where they lost to Michigan State. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated VCU in the second round before losing in the third round to Arizona.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| D'Angelo Russell | 0 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Freshman | Louisville, KY | Declare for 2015 NBA draft |
| Shannon Scott | 3 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Senior | Alpharetta, GA | Graduated |
| Sam Thompson | 12 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Amir Williams | 23 | C | 6'11" | 250 | Senior | Birmingham, MI | Graduated |
| Anthony Lee | 31 | C | 6'9" | 230 | Senior | Columbia, MD | Graduated |
| Trey McDonald | 55 | C | 6'8" | 240 | Senior | Battle Creek, MI | Graduated |

## Recruiting Class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| JaQuan Lyle PG | Evansville, IN | IMG Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jan 29, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Austin Grandstaff SG | Rockwall, TX | Rockwall High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Daniel Giddens C | Marietta, GA | Oak Hill Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Jul 4, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| A. J. Harris PG | Dayton, OH | Dunbar High School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Aug 12, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Mickey Mitchell SF | Dayton, OH | Plano West High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 13, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014. ||||||

### Recruiting Class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Micah Potter C | Mentor, OH | Mentor High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Apr 20, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Derek Funderburk PF | Lakewood, OH | Saint Edward High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Apr 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 8, 2015* 4:00 pm | | Walsh | W 92–82 | | Value City Arena (12,167) Columbus, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 15, 2015* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Mount St. Mary's | W 76–54 | 1–0 | Value City Arena (11,590) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 17, 2015* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Grambling State Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 82–55 | 2–0 | Value City Arena (10,779) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 20, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas–Arlington Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 68–73 | 2–1 | Value City Arena (12,312) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 24, 2015* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Louisiana Tech Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 74–82 | 2–2 | Value City Arena (11,572) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 27, 2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Memphis Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 76–81 $^{OT}$ | 2–3 | American Airlines Arena (10,023) Miami, FL |
| Dec 1, 2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN | | No. 10 Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 58–64 | 2–4 | Value City Arena (12,445) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 5, 2015* 4:30 pm, BTN | | VMI | W 89–62 | 3–4 | Value City Arena (12,132) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 8, 2015* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Air Force | W 74–50 | 4–4 | Value City Arena (11,816) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 12, 2015* 12:00 pm, CBS | | at UConn | L 55–75 | 4–5 | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| Dec 16, 2015* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Northern Illinois | W 67–54 | 5–5 | Value City Arena (12,880) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 19, 2015* 3:30 pm, CBS | | vs. No. 4 Kentucky CBS Sports Classic | W 74–67 | 6–5 | Barclays Center (16,311) Brooklyn, NY |
| Dec 22, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Mercer | W 64–44 | 7–5 | Value City Arena (11,460) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 27, 2015* 6:00 pm, BTN | | South Carolina State | W 73–57 | 8–5 | Value City Arena (13,506) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2015 7:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 78–63 | 9–5 (1–0) | Value City Arena (13,701) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 3, 2016 5:00 pm, BTN | | Illinois | W 75–73 | 10–5 (2–0) | Value City Arena (12,798) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 6, 2016 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | W 65–56 | 11–5 (3–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,439) Evanston, IL |
| Jan 10, 2016 1:30 pm, CBS | | at Indiana | L 60–85 | 11–6 (3–1) | Assembly Hall (16,382) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 13, 2016 6:30 pm, BTN | | Rutgers | W 94–68 | 12–6 (4–1) | Value City Arena (11,635) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 16, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 3 Maryland | L 65–100 | 12–7 (4–2) | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Jan 21, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 22 Purdue | L 64–75 | 12–8 (4–3) | Mackey Arena (14,846) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 25, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | W 66–46 | 13–8 (5–3) | Value City Arena (11,542) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 28, 2016 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | W 68–63 $^{OT}$ | 14–8 (6–3) | State Farm Center (13,263) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 31, 2016 1:00 pm, CBS | | No. 8 Maryland | L 61–66 | 14–9 (6–4) | Value City Arena (16,592) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 4, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Wisconsin | L 68–79 | 14–10 (6–5) | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 9, 2016 8:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | W 71–63 | 15–10 (7–5) | Value City Arena (11,376) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 13, 2016 4:00 pm, BTN | | at Rutgers | W 79–69 | 16–10 (8–5) | The RAC (5,658) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 16, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Michigan | W 76–66 | 17–10 (9–5) | Value City Arena (17,088) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 20, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | W 65–62 $^{OT}$ | 18–10 (10–5) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,679) Lincoln, NE |
| Feb 23, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 6 Michigan State | L 62–81 | 18–11 (10–6) | Value City Arena (14,257) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 28, 2016 4:00 pm, CBS | | No. 8 Iowa | W 68–64 | 19–11 (11–6) | Value City Arena (15,593) Columbus, OH |
| Mar 5, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 2 Michigan State | L 76–91 | 19–12 (11–7) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2016 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | (7) | vs. (10) Penn State Second Round | W 79–75 | 20–12 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (15,751) Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 11, 2016 6:30 pm, BTN | (7) | vs. (2) Michigan State Quarterfinals | L 54–81 | 20–13 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (15,942) Indianapolis, IN |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 15, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (3) | (6) Akron First Round – Monmouth Bracket | W 72–63 $^{OT}$ | 21–13 | Value City Arena (4,698) Columbus, OH |
| Mar 20, 2016* 12:00 pm, ESPN | (3) | (2) Florida Second Round – Monmouth Bracket | L 66–74 | 21–14 | Value City Arena (8,185) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source: