Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 2/22/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Thursday, February 22, 2024

Location: Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN

TV: BTN

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9) are hosting the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-11) at Williams Arena on Thursday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes faced off with Purdue and earned the victory with a final of 73-69 in their last contest. Ohio State walked away from the contest with a 48.3% FG percentage (28 out of 58) and knocked down 7 of their 21 3-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Buckeyes converted 10 of 11 attempts for a percentage of 90.9%. In reference to rebounding, they collected 22 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 13 assists in the game while creating 14 turnovers and getting 9 steals. When talking about defending, Ohio State allowed their opponent to shoot 43.4% from the floor on 23 of 53 shooting. Purdue doled out 13 dimes and had 3 steals for this contest. Moreover, Purdue snagged 36 boards (14 offensive, 22 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Purdue finished the contest at 100.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 20 of their 20 tries. They knocked down 3 of 9 tries from downtown. In relation to personal fouls, the Buckeyes ended up finishing with 20 while Purdue totaled 14 personal fouls.

Bruce Thornton is one player who was a major factor in this game. He accounted for 22 points on 8 out of 17 shooting. He played for 35 mins and collected 4 rebounds. He shot 47.1% from the field and also totaled 3 assists.

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Ohio State will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 15-11 for the season. They have an average of 74.4 points per outing (169th in college hoops) while shooting 44.6% from the field. The Buckeyes are connecting on 33.9% on shots from downtown (185 of 546) and 76.5% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Ohio State is collecting 36.4 boards per contest and has racked up 359 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 145th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 10.1 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.7 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Buckeyes are forcing their opponents into 10.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.1 personal fouls. They are giving up 35.9% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 118th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (69.7). The Buckeyes are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.3% (659 of 1,523) and they surrender 34.2 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are 50th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 291 surrendered on the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Minnesota Golden Gophers walked away with a victory by a final of 81-70 against Rutgers. The Golden Gophers earned 25 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 34 in this game. They also coughed it up 13 times, while earning 4 steals in this game. Rutgers was called for 21 fouls in this game which took the Golden Gophers to the free throw line for 34 attempts. They were able to make 23 of the free throw tries for a rate of 67.6%. In regard to shots from downtown, Minnesota converted 8 of 16 attempts (50.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Golden Gophers walked away from this one shooting 25 for 49 from the field which gave them a rate of 51.0%. The Golden Gophers permitted Rutgers to make 24 of their 62 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 38.7% in this game. They wrapped up this game 21.1% from 3-point land by connecting on 4 of 19 and finished the game at 18 of 22 at the free throw line (81.8%). In relation to cleaning the glass, Minnesota allowed Rutgers to get 29 overall (10 on the offensive glass).

Pharrel Payne pitched in for the Golden Gophers for the contest. He made 8 out of 12 for the contest giving him a rate of 66.7%, and earned 11 rebounds. He had 21 points in his 31 mins on the court and totaled 2 assists in this matchup.

Minnesota has a win-loss mark of 16-9 this year. The Golden Gophers are committing 16.8 fouls per game and they connect on 68.2% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 18.5 times per game (5th in the country) and they turn it over 12.2 times per contest. Minnesota has tallied 1,907 points on the year (76.3 per game) and they average 36.4 boards per game. As an offense, the Golden Gophers are hitting on 47.5% from the floor, which ranks 43rd in the country.

The Golden Gophers are ranked 110th in D-1 in PPG given up with 69.3. They are forcing their opponents into 11.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 42.7% from the field (134th in college basketball). The Minnesota defense allows 34.0% on 3-pointers (146 of 430) and their opponents are connecting on 71.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 13.9 dimes and 33.5 rebounds per game, which ranks them 276th and 111th in college basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ohio State

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