College Basketball on Thursday and we will see the Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Evanston, Illinois to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. The game is scheduled for an 9:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN 2. Currently the Odds for the game have Ohio State favored by 10.5 point while the total sits at 124.5.
Analysis: Including this one, Ohio State has just three games remaining in the regular season, and with a league ledger of 10-5, it currently trails first-place Indiana (12-3) by two games. The Buckeyes play at Indiana next Tuesday, before closing out the campaign at home versus Illinois on March 10. OSU has won two straight, and three of its last four to improve to 20-7 overall, and the team is hoping to add to its less-than-stellar road record (3-5) with a win in this contest. The Buckeyes' took care of visiting Michigan State in their last outing, 68-60, this past Sunday. While sporting talent across the roster, Ohio State goes pretty much as star forward Deshaun Thomas goes. A serious contender for Big Ten Player of the Year honors, as well as All-America status, Thomas leads the conference in scoring at 19.9 ppg, and he adds 6.1 rpg, while shooting 37.3 percent from 3- point range, 44.5 percent from the field overall, and an astounding 84.5 percent from the foul line. No other OSU player averages double figures in the scoring. As a team, the Buckeyes are putting up 70.6 ppg while permitting only 59.1 ppg, and they own favorable margins as well in both rebounding (+3.8) and turnovers (+2.4).
Northwestern hasn't had anywhere near the success as its counterpart tonight, the team logging a 13-15 overall mark, which includes a 4-11 record in Big Ten action. The Wildcats are tied for 10th place in the conference standings, and they are hoping to snap a five-game losing streak and even their home record at 9-9 with an upset of the Buckeyes. Northwestern has really struggled to put points on the board this season, coming in with an average of 61.1 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of 40.2 percent overall, 34.2 percent from 3-point range, and 66.2 percent from the free throw line. Fortunately, the team's defensive effort has allowed it hang with at least some of the teams on its schedule, its foes averaging just 63.0 ppg despite laying claim to a +6.7 edge on the glass. The Wildcats feature two active double-digit scorers in Reggie Hearn (13.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Dave Sobolewski (10.2 ppg, 3.9 apg), but no one hit that mark in a 74-43 loss at Purdue last Sunday. Tre Demps came closest with his nine points, as the Wildcats shot a horrific 28.6 percent from the floor, hitting a mere 4-of-18 long-range launches in the process. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers made good on 52.9 percent of their total shots, hitting seven treys, and they more than doubled NU's effort on the boards, 48-23.
Pick: Gonna be brief with this one, but I do like the Under. The Buckeyes are playing solid defense right now, allowing just 56.3 ppg and the Cats can't score a lick, putting up just 41.7 ppg in their last 3 games. The Buckeyes really struggle to score on the road as they average just 63 ppg away from home, while the cats allow just 63 ppg at home. This one has the feel of a 60-50 type game.
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