Indiana vs Ohio State Game Preview:
Now Indiana comes into this game 16-19 overall and 7-8 in conference play. They’ve lost their last four games in a row to Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan State and then on Tuesday to Wisconsin 74-69.
With this team headed in the wrong direction and almost a week of rest, this is the perfect opportunity for Coach Mike Woodson to have this team prepared to get the upset.
In their last lost on Tuesday against Wisconsin, Trayce Jackson-Davis had a monster game, going 10 for 13 and finishing with 30 points. Jackson-Davis was able to put up 27 points and 12 rebounds in his last game against Ohio State this season, so you should expect him to have another big game.
The Hoosiers on the road this season are scoring an average of 69.2 points, but on defense they are giving up an average of 70.8 points per game.
Indiana is 1-11 against the spread in their last 12 games on the road and the total has gone over in 7 of the Hoosiers last 10 games played in February.
On the other side of the court, Ohio State comes into this game 16-7 overall and ranked eighteenth in the nation. They’re coming off a 75-62 home loss to Iowa on Saturday, so look for them to be hungry to get that bounce back win.
In that last game, Ohio State shot just 2 of 11 from 3-point land and turned the ball over 14 times, which is the perfect recipe for a double digit loss. Indiana is above average when it comes to 3-point defense, but Ohio State should be able to shot better than 18% from 3-point land.
If they continue shooting those kind of numbers from the outside, then they won’t be covering the spread in this one. Malaki Branham and EJ Liddell combined for 37 of the 62 points scored last game, so expect them both to have another top performing game.
The Buckeyes at home this season are scoring an average of 76.8 points while giving up only 63.3 points per game.
Ohio State is 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 games.and the total has gone under in 4 of the Buckeyes last 5 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference.