Ohio State Buckeyes vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, 12/8/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Location: Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, IN

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Ohio State (-5)

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-1) play the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) at Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday. The line on this game has Ohio State as 5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 140.5.

Ohio State comes into this one with a mark of 3-0 so far this year. They average 81.7 pts per game (68th in the country) while hitting 44.4% from the floor. The Buckeyes are connecting on 32.3% on 3-pointers (20 of 62) and 76.5% from the charity stripe. As a team, Ohio State is collecting 42.3 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 42 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 163rd in the nation in terms of passing. They are turning it over 8.7 times per contest and as a group they commit 16.3 fouls per contest. On the defensive end, the Buckeyes are able to force 15.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 22.0 fouls. They concede 38.0% on 3-pointers while they are 34th in the country in points per game allowed (58.3). The Buckeyes defense is giving up a FG percentage of 33.9% (56 of 165) and they concede 32.0 boards per game as a group. They are 108th in D-1 in giving up assists with 35 surrendered this year.

The Ohio State Buckeyes faced the Morehead State Eagles and walked away with a win by a score of 77-44 in their last contest. Ohio State finished with a 44.3% field goal percentage (27 of 61) and converted 10 of 26 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Buckeyes converted 13 of their 16 shots for a rate of 81.3%. With regard to pulling down rebounds, they collected 40 with 14 of them being offensive. They also distributed 15 assists for this game in addition to earning 7 steals and 3 blocks. In relation to the defense, Ohio State allowed their opponent to shoot 44.3% from the floor on 27 of 61. Morehead State totaled 8 dimes and 2 steals for the matchup. Moreover, the Eagles pulled down 27 rebounds (9 offensive, 18 defensive) and earned 3 rejections. Morehead State finished the game at 84.6% from the charity stripe by making 11 of 13 shots. They converted 7 of 21 tries from 3-point land.

CJ Walker is one guy who was important for the matchup. He totaled 11 points on 3 out of 8 shooting. He played for 33 minutes and also collected 4 rebounds. Walker went 37.5% from the floor and also dished out 4 dimes. One more player that was a major contributor in this matchup for the Buckeyes was E.J. Liddell. He collected 7 boards and totaled 2 dimes. He ended up shooting 66.7% from the floor for the game by shooting 6-of-9 (16 points). Overall, Liddell played for 28 min.

Notre Dame has a mark of 1-1 this year. Notre Dame has 148 points so far this year (74.0 per contest) and they grab 39.0 rebounds per game. The Fighting Irish commit 11.5 fouls every game while shooting 77.1% from the free throw line. When it comes to offensive execution, the Fighting Irish are hitting on 40.8% from the floor, which is 284th in college basketball. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.0 times per contest (94th in the country) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 9.0 times per contest. The Fighting Irish on defense are ranked 214th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 75.0. They concede 19.5 dimes and 43.5 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 289th and 281st in those categories on the defensive end. The Notre Dame defense gives up 30.0% on 3-point attempts (15 of 50) and their opponents are connecting on 80.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They are able to force 9.5 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.4% from the field (116th in D-1).

When they last played, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish took home the win by a final score of 78-70 when they played the Detroit Titans. The Fighting Irish corralled 33 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 41 in this matchup. They also turned away 5 attempts while recording 3 steals for the game. The Titans committed 14 fouls for this contest which took the Fighting Irish to the free throw line for 9 attempts. They were able to convert 7 of them for a percentage of 77.8%. In regard to three-point shots, Notre Dame knocked down 11 of their 23 attempts (47.8%). When this game wrapped up, the Fighting Irish walked away from this one shooting 30 out of 65 from the floor which had them shooting 46.2%. The Fighting Irish permitted the Titans to knock down 27 out of their 71 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.0% in the game. They wrapped up this game 28.6% from 3-point land by hitting 8 out of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 10 at the charity stripe (80.0%). With respect to how they rebounded, Notre Dame permitted Detroit to grab 37 in all (9 offensive).

Prentiss Hubb saw a lot of time on the hardwood for the Fighting Irish for this game. He converted 6 out of 16 for the contest for a field goal rate of 37.5%, which had him sitting at 18 points. Hubb pulled down 3 boards in his 40 minutes and had 8 dimes for this game. An additional guy who saw a lot of minutes for Notre Dame was Dane Goodwin. He racked up 15 points in his 39 minutes played via 7 out of 13 from the floor in the game. Goodwin finished going 53.8% from the field while contributing 2 assists and 10 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ohio State (-5)

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