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Ohio State adds Creighton to non-conference basketball schedule in 2018

Greg McDermott, who nearly took the Buckeyes head coach last summer, will get a showdown with Chris Holtmann in the Gavitt Games

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Ohio State vs Gonzaga Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Last month, the Ohio State Buckeyes added Bucknell to a non-conference slate that consisted of UCLA, Cincinnati and Youngstown State.

Make room for another non-conference matchup in the fall of 2018, as the Creighton Blue Jays will host the Buckeyes in the Gavitt Tipoff Games on Nov. 15.

The Gavitt Tipoff Games is an annual, eight-game showdown between Big Ten and Big East squads. It’s one of the more recent conference clashes, starting back in 2015. Interestingly enough, all three years of the Games’ existence have ended ties between the two conferences.

Greg McDermott, the current Creighton coach, nearly took the OSU job last summer. Eventually, Chris Holtmann signed on the dotted line—and the rest is history. Holtmann led the Bucks to a 25-9 overall record, which included a second place finish in the Big Ten and a trip to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

This isn’t the first time that OSU has taken part in this Big Ten/Big East challenge. In 2016, the Buckeyes defeated Providence, 72-67, at Value City Arena. JaQuan Lyle led the Scarlet and Gray with 20 points, while Jae’Sean Tate added a cool 14 points to improve the Bucks’ record to 3-0. However, things unravelled and Thad Matta ended his last season at the helm of Ohio State with an overall record of 17-15.

Last season, Minnesota, Purdue, Maryland, Indiana, Northwestern, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Illinois took part in the Gavitt Games; Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue and Illinois won their respective contests.