Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 1/27/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022

Location: Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN

TV: ESPN

The Ohio State Buckeyes (12-4) are en route to Williams Arena on Thursday where they will go up against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-5).

The Ohio State Buckeyes played IUPUI and notched a win by a score of 83-37 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Buckeyes walked away with 13 while IUPUI finished the game with 21 fouls. They buried 3 out of their 13 tries from beyond the arc. IUPUI finished 66.7% at the free throw line by converting 8 of 12 tries. In addition, IUPUI grabbed 17 boards (4 offensive, 13 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. IUPUI dished out 8 dimes and had 3 steals in this matchup. With regard to the defense, Ohio State allowed the other team to shoot 32.5% from the floor on 13 of 40 shooting. They also recorded 19 assists for the contest while forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and earning 6 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 27 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Buckeyes made 16 of 19 attempts for a percentage of 84.2%. Ohio State walked away from the game with a 57.1% FG percentage (28 of 49) and knocked down 11 of 23 three-point shots.

E.J. Liddell is one guy who came through in the game. He walked away with 13 points on 4 out of 7 shooting. He saw the court for 26 minutes and also totaled 10 boards. He shot 57.1% from the field and recorded 3 dimes.

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Ohio State steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 12-4 for the campaign. They have an average of 75.1 pts per contest (97th in Division 1) while hitting 48.3% from the field. The Buckeyes are shooting 38.0% from downtown (138 of 363) and 75.1% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Ohio State is grabbing 35.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 235 dimes this season, which ranks 212th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 12.4 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 16.4 personal fouls every game.

Defensively, the Buckeyes have forced 11.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.4 fouls. They concede 31.8% from 3-point land and they are 140th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (67.4). The Buckeyes defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 40.7% (384 of 944) and they concede 32.1 rebounds per game as a group. They are currently ranked 21st in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 172 conceded for the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the Minnesota Golden Gophers took home the win by a final score of 68-65 when they faced Rutgers. The Golden Gophers recorded 15 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 21 for this game. They turned the ball over 13 times, while earning 5 steals for this contest. Rutgers had 12 personal fouls in the game which got the Golden Gophers to the free throw line for 4 shots. They were able to bury 3 of them for a rate of 75.0%. Regarding shots from downtown, Minnesota converted 13 of their 24 attempts (54.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Golden Gophers shot 26 for 48 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.2%. The Golden Gophers allowed Rutgers to make 25 out of 54 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 46.3% for the game. They shot 44.4% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 12 out of 27 and ended up going 3 of 3 at the free throw line (100.0%). Regarding rebounds, Minnesota allowed Rutgers to grab 24 in all (11 on the offensive side).

Payton Willis ended up being a major contributor for the Golden Gophers for this game. He converted 11 of 17 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 64.7%, and earned 3 rebounds. He earned 32 points in his 40 minutes of playing time and had 7 assists in this contest.

Minnesota has a mark of 11-5 so far this year. The Golden Gophers have committed 13.9 personal fouls every game and they connect on 70.1% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 12.6 times per contest (225th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 9.8 times per game. Minnesota has accounted for 1,113 points on the year (69.6 per contest) and they snag 32.4 boards per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Golden Gophers are shooting 45.8% from the floor, which ranks 106th in the nation.

The Golden Gophers on the defensive side of the court are 107th in D-1 in points given up per game with 66.3. They are able to force 11.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.2% from the field (206th in college basketball). The Minnesota defense surrenders 28.8% on 3-pointers (93 of 323) and opponents are making 72.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have relinquished 13.0 assists and 37.4 boards on a nightly basis, which is 211th and 305th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ohio State

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