Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 1/6/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Monday, January 6, 2025

Location: Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN

TV: FS1

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-5) welcome the Ohio State Buckeyes (9-4) at Williams Arena on Monday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes faced off with Indiana State and earned the victory with a final of 103-83 in their last contest. Ohio State walked away from the game having earned a 55.7% FG percentage (34 of 61) and buried 7 of their 21 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Buckeyes knocked down 28 of 41 shots for a rate of 68.3%. In the matter of hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 30 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 15 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 19 turnovers and getting 11 steals. When it comes to the defense, Ohio State allowed their opponent to shoot 42.6% from the field on 23 of 54 shooting. Indiana State distributed 14 assists and had 1 steal in the matchup. Additionally, Indiana State totaled 31 boards (9 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Indiana State finished the game at 84.4% at the charity stripe by converting 27 of 32 attempts. They also buried 10 out of their 28 tries from 3-point land. With respect to personal fouls, the Buckeyes ended up finishing with 23 and Indiana State totaled 28 personal fouls.

Bruce Thornton is one player who came through in the game. He racked up 33 points on 11 of 16 shooting. He played for 36 minutes and also grabbed 6 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 68.8% from the floor and also totaled 3 dimes.

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Ohio State will take the court with a mark of 9-4 on the year. They have an average of 82.8 points per game (50th in the nation) while hitting 50.5% from the floor. The Buckeyes are hitting 39.6% on 3-pointers (110 of 278) and 69.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, Ohio State is grabbing 35.5 boards per contest and has accounted for 194 dimes for the season, which is 169th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 10.4 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 18.8 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Buckeyes are forcing their opponents into 12.0 turnovers per game while drawing 19.2 fouls. They are ranked 24th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 130 conceded for the year. The Buckeyes are giving up a FG percentage of 38.1% (294 of 771) and they concede 33.5 rebounds per game as a team. They are conceding 28.4% on 3-pointers and they rank 144th in college hoops in points per game allowed (69.8).

For their last game, the Minnesota Golden Gophers took home the win by a final score of 90-68 when they played Morgan State. The Golden Gophers pulled down 25 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 33 in this contest. They also coughed it up 4 times, while recording 5 steals in this game. Morgan State was called for 15 fouls for the game which got the Golden Gophers to the free throw line for 24 attempts. They were able to knock down 15 of those for a percentage of 62.5%. Regarding shots from beyond the arc, Minnesota buried 13 of their 29 attempts (44.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Golden Gophers finished shooting 31 out of 60 from the floor which gave them a rate of 51.7%. The Golden Gophers permitted Morgan State to knock down 24 out of their 60 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.0% for the matchup. They shot 36.4% from three-point range by connecting on 4 out of 11 and finished the game at 16 out of 19 at the charity stripe (84.2%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Minnesota allowed Morgan State to grab 31 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Mike Mitchell Jr. ended up being a major contributor for the Golden Gophers in the game. He knocked down 8 out of 10 for the contest for a rate of 80.0%, and had 5 rebounds. He racked up 22 points in his 24 mins on the court and earned 1 assist for this contest.

Minnesota has a mark of 8-5 for the campaign. The Golden Gophers commit 15.6 personal fouls every game and they go 64.9% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 15.9 times per contest (88th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 9.9 times per game. Minnesota has scored 883 points so far this year (67.9 per contest) and they grab 33.8 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Golden Gophers are shooting 44.5% from the field, which has them ranked 216th in college.

The Minnesota defense allows 32.9% on shots from beyond the arc (79 of 240) and opponents are making 72.6% of their free throw shots. They concede 13.5 assists and 34.8 boards per game, which is ranked 214th and 203rd in D-1. The Golden Gophers on the defensive side of the court are 30th in college in points allowed per contest with 63.8. They are forcing their opponents into 11.5 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.0% from the field (127th in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Ohio State

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