Buckeyes, Boilermakers Try To Keep Pace in Big Ten

The Boilermakers (17-3, 6-3) have won two in a row, including a win against the host Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night. Purdue is fifth in the conference, a half-game behind the Buckeyes for fourth place and percentage points ahead of the Indiana Hoosiers for sixth place.

If you want to bet online on this contest, the college basketball lines have the Boilermakers as 9½-point favorites at home, with the over/under set at 146 points. Betting on the moneyline will get you Purdue at -500 and Ohio State at +400.

Leading the Charge

The race for the Player of the Year in the Big Ten Conference is likely led by Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell. Liddell is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.6 points per game, eighth in rebounding at 7.8 per game and third in blocks at 2.6 per contest.

But while the rest of the top candidates have solid supporting casts around them, Liddell is usually the one player that teams are focusing on when they play the Buckeyes. Yet Liddell is able to get his points, as he did against Minnesota on Thursday, finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds and five assists to lead Ohio State to the road win.

Guard Malaki Branham is the only other double-figure scorer on the Buckeyes at 10.1 points per game. Ohio State has a lot of balance after that, with three players between 7.1 and 9.5 points per game, but the focus of the offense — and opponents’ defensive game plans — is Liddell, as it will be on Sunday.

How well Ohio State plays on the defensive end will tell a lot about this contest. The Boilermakers lead the Big Ten with a .409 three-point percentage, but the Buckeyes are limiting opponents to just 31.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Can coach Chris Holtmann’s team cover the perimeter while also dealing with the size of Purdue in the paint?

Another question is the status of point guard Jamari Wheeler. The senior point guard, averaging 7.1 points and 3.8 assists per game, missed a contest for the first time this season on Thursday with a foot injury and is considered a game-time decision against the Boilermakers.

Getting Back

The Boilermakers have been dealing with injuries as well as cold shooting, but both seemed to be getting better against Iowa on Thursday. While Jaden Ivey returned to action after missing the previous game with a hip injury, it was Isaiah Thompson impressing with his scoring, as he went for a career-high 18 points in the victory.

“I was struggling shooting,” Thompson said after Thursday’s win. “It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary I was doing. I was getting open looks that didn’t go down. I just wanted to get back to the basics of what my dad taught me all my life, and I think I did a good job of that.”

Thompson, averaging just 6.3 points per game, hit 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the win after scoring a total of 22 points over the previous six games.

Ivey played off the bench, but he had 15 points in 22 minutes of action. The sophomore guard is averaging 16.6 points and hitting 43.8% from 3-point range, so his presence in the Purdue lineup is crucial to the team’s success.

The interior duo of center Zach Edey and forward Trevion Williams is also a key component to the Boilermakers’ drive for a conference title. The 7-4 Edey is averaging 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and a team-best 1.2 blocks, while 6-10 Williams paces the team in rebounding at 8.5 per game along with 12.7 points.

Guard Sasha Stefanovic is another shooter for coach Matt Painter to rely on, as he’s averaging 12.2 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per game while hitting 41.8% of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Boilermakers Roll

With Ivey back and healthy and the interior duo of Edey and Williams roaming the paint, the Boilermakers are going to roll to an easy win in this one. Liddell will do his damage, but it won’t be enough to keep the Buckeyes in this one for long.

When doing your college basketball betting, take Purdue to win and cover at home.