College Basketball: Ohio State vs. Purdue Odds & Pick: January 12th 2010

Ohio State vs. Purdue
Free Pick: Ohio State +9.5 -110 odds
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Ohio St’s 11-5 record doesn’t look too impressive at all, but the Buckeyes have a valid excuse for it. Their best player, Evan Turner, did not play in three of the five losses. Those three losses came by 8, 21, and 9 points. Turner played in two of the losses, a 3-point loss to North Carolina and Saturday’s 11-point loss at Minnesota. So despite having five losses, the Buckeyes were close in four of them with a shot to win all of them late.

Purdue enters tonight off their first loss of the season; a 7-point defeat at Wisconsin on Saturday. The Boilermakers were simply off their game as they only shot 30% (3-10) from three-point land and just 54.2% (13-24) from the free throw line. Those numbers at the free throw line are well below Purdue’s 73.1% seasonal average, and the misses cost them a shot at a win. And after suffering their first loss of the season, the players sometimes come out tight in their next game because they are over thinking and not just out there playing. And that usually allows the underdog to hang around longer in the game.

With Turner back in the lineup, Ohio St may be the most talented team in the Big 10 from top to bottom. But the Buckeyes are still learning how to play with one another after they had to learn to play without Turner while he was out. And that has caused this team to go 4-4 over their last 8 games and just 1-7 ATS in those eight games.

That, along with this quote from Turner, keeps this selection from being a bit stronger. “I think we’re trying to get our mojo back,” Turner said. “We haven’t played together in like a month. We’re just tying to get back together and find the offense we had before.”