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Two teams that are NCAA Tournament bound as of now will face off this evening as the Purdue Boilermakers take on the No. 15 Ohio State Buckeyes with sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten on the line. These two teams met on December 16th in West Lafayette already, with Purdue finding the 67-60 win.
Purdue is led by forward Trevion Williams, who averages nearly a double-double at 15.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The junior from Chicago shoots only 47% from the free throw line, but plays a physical brand of basketball that will get noticed by the NBA if he can ever find a shooters touch. He had 16 points and nine rebounds in the win earlier this season over the Buckeyes in just 27 minutes off the bench.
The Boilers are on a three-game winning streak in what might be the toughest conference in America, beating Michigan State and Indiana on the road before an 80-72 victory over Penn State last Sunday.
Ohio State has also run off three in a row, with road wins over Rutgers and Illinois sandwiching a home victory over Northwestern. Junior guard Duane Washington makes them go with 15.4 points and 2.6 assists per outing, and do it with a physical style as well; they’re 11th in America with 18.1 free throws made per game.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
You can watch Purdue vs. Ohio State on Tuesday, January 19th at 6:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network, or you can watch via the Fox Sports App with a cable or streaming service login that gets the channel.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: Ohio State -4
Point Total: 137.5
Money line: Purdue +155, Ohio State -186
The Best Bet
These are two teams that love to slow the pace and play a physical style. If the refs let them play, you might not see a lot of makes from the floor. And that’s good for those going under the total.
Pick: Under 137.5
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