The Ohio State men’s basketball team hopes to stop a two-game losing skid tonight as it battles the Indiana Hoosiers in the first of three consecutive road games.

OSU (8-7, 1-3) enters the game coming off back-to-back home losses to Michigan and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes defeated No. 18 Indiana (13-3, 3-1) 81-69 in Columbus in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 11.

Tonight’s matchup presents the additional challenge of playing in Assembly Hall, one of the Big Ten’s most hostile environments for visiting teams. OSU has won five of the last seven games against Indiana, who holds a 57-21 advantage over opponents in Bloomington.

“It’s not only that we’re playing on the road, it’s that the teams we are playing against are a combined 9-1,” OSU coach Jim O’Brien said. “Ironically, the only loss Indiana has was to us.”

A clean sweep of the Hoosiers this season will give OSU some momentum amid a tough road stretch that includes conference rivals Iowa and Purdue.

The Buckeyes hope to turn up the heat on the offensive end against the Hoosiers, who are led by freshman guard Bracey Wright (19.1 ppg). Wright is the second leading scorer in the Big Ten and will lead the Hoosier attack alongside senior forward Jeff Newton and senior guard Tom Coverdale.

“They are a very good basketball team with a high-octane, high-powered offense,” O’Brien said.

In the last contest, the Buckeyes got strong contributions from the inside with a three-man post rotation that provided help to OSU’s perimeter shooters.

Junior forward Shun Jenkins, who has turned in a double-double for the Buckeyes in each of the past two games, said the key to success for OSU will be offensive consistency.

“I’m tired of saying this, but we have to step it up in the next game. We have to get it going on the offensive end,” Jenkins said.

OSU will again rely on quality minutes from tri-captain guards Brent Darby and Sean Connolly and forward Zach Williams as they go deeper into conference play short-handed. Jenkins will remain in the starting lineup to bulk up the post for OSU, who continues to struggle in the absence of sophomore Terence Dials.

After their first Big Ten road loss to the Buckeyes, Indiana claimed victories over Northwestern and Illinois.

If the Buckeyes win tonight, it will be their first win against a ranked opponent on the road since Feb. 7, 2001, when OSU defeated No. 14 Iowa 69-68.