Big Ten Tournament 2021: Betting Tips for Round 2 Odds, Spreads and Over-Under
The Michigan State Spartans have been one of the best stories in men's college basketball over the past few weeks.
Tom Izzo's squad went from a team in danger of missing the NCAA men's basketball tournament to a potential lock into the field of 68.
Michigan State can further solidify its place in the Big Dance on Thursday with a victory over the Maryland Terrapins in the Big Ten tournament second round.
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Maryland is one of a few teams scheduled to take the court in the second round that enters Indianapolis on a losing run.
The Ohio State Buckeyes fall into the same category and need to beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers to create some momentum going into the men's NCAA tournament.
Big Ten 2nd-Round Schedule
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Michigan State (-1) (Over/Under: 131) (11:30 a.m. ET, BTN)
No. 5 Ohio State (-10.5) vs. No. 13 Minnesota (O/U: 146) (2 p.m. ET, BTN)
No. 7 Rutgers (-3) vs. No. 10 Indiana (O/U: 131) (6:30 p.m. ET, BTN)
No. 6 Wisconsin (-5) vs. No. 11 Penn State (O/U: 134) (9 p.m. ET, BTN)
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Betting Tips
Michigan State (-1) vs. Maryland
Michigan State worked its way off the bubble with five wins in its past seven games.
One of the rare slip-ups during the stretch was a loss to Maryland on February 28 that featured its second-lowest scoring total of the run.
Since that game, the Spartans beat the rival Michigan Wolverines to land on the "last four byes" line in the latest projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, and Maryland suffered a pair of disappointing losses.
Maryland struggled to score against the Northwestern Wildcats and Penn State Nittany Lions as it produced a total of 116 points.
If those troubles carry over into Indianapolis, the Spartans could be in prime position to set up a third meeting with Michigan in eight days.
To secure that matchup, Michigan State needs to shoot much better than it did at the Xfinity Center. It made just 19 of its 57 field-goal attempts in the 73-55 defeat.
In Sunday's win over Michigan, the Spartans' most experienced players led the scoring, as Rocket Watts and Aaron Henry combined for 39 points.
If Watts, Henry and Joshua Langford turn in a solid set of performances on Thursday, they could hold the edge in what is being viewed as a coin flip matchup by oddsmakers.
Maryland could rally back from its losing run, but Michigan State has too much momentum in its favor right now, and it has the motivation to avenge one of its recent defeats.
Ohio State vs. Minnesota (Under 146)
Ohio State went from a contender for the fourth No. 1 seed to a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the midst of its four-game losing streak.
The only silver lining to come from that run is that the Buckeyes were competitive with a trio of Top 10 teams.
On Thursday, the Buckeyes received a much easier matchup to get back on track before a potential quarterfinal showdown with the Purdue Boilermakers.
Minnesota is coming off an atrocious 51-point performance in the first round on Wednesday, and it has had trouble scoring in some games against Top 25 foes.
In its five losses to ranked Big Ten opponents, Minnesota failed to reach the 75-point mark. It owns four victories against Top 25 teams, but all of those triumphs occurred at home and in the early stretch of Big Ten play.
Richard Pitino's squad recorded 65 points or fewer in five of its last eight games in which it produced a 1-7 record.
Ohio State has not reached the 70-point mark in its last three games, and it may have trouble adjusting to the court inside Lucas Oil Stadium since Big Ten teams were not given time to practice there before playing.
Minnesota suffered from that on Wednesday and is dealing with depth issues. The Gophers only had eight players hit the floor against Northwestern.
If those struggles carry over into the second-round contest, we could see a low-scoring affair in the 60s.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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