NCAAB Sunday February 18th Purdue at Ohio State Betting Preview
#2 Boilermakers Roll Here?
The Buckeyes hope that a coaching change this week will invigorate them heading into the February 18th Purdue at Ohio State betting matchup. Chris Holtmann was shown the door after the team had lost 9 of their last 11 and he’ll be replaced on the interim by Jake Diebler.
OSU (14-11) has a new coach and a fresh outlook, but is that going to be enough against #2 Purdue (23-2)? The Boilermakers have rattled off 9 straight wins and are -8.5 road favorites on Sunday and have won six of the last seven head to head matchups with Ohio State. A landslide of 85% of public betting is taking Purdue in this spot.
Why Purdue Has Value at -8.5
There is a lot of unknowns surrounding Ohio State with their coaching change, but what is known is Purdue is pretty dang good. The Boilermakers seem like a lock for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament save for a late season meltdown and they’ve got a two game lead for the Big Ten regular season crown.
Of course leading the way for Purdue is reigning Player of the Year Zach Edey. The big man hit just three field goals in the first half of Thursday’s win over Minnesota but finished the game with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Edey has 24+ point and 12+ rebound double-doubles in 7 of his last 9 games.
Edey had 32 points and 15 rebounds in Purdue’s win over Ohio State in last year’s Big Ten Tournament (80-66) but the Boilermakers – and the highest scoring offense in the conference – are more than a one man team. Braden Smith and Lance Jones both average over a dozen points per game and Jones has scored 20+ in three of his last six.
Why Ohio State Has Value at +8.5
There’s no doubt that Edey is a load, but Ohio State did a good job of limiting his production in last year’s meeting at Columbus holding him to 6-11 shooting and just 16 points in a close 71-69 Purdue win. OSU shot 50% from the field in that game, in what was the second straight home game vs the Boilermakers that was decided by 2 points.
Purdue has been dominant this year, but both of their losses this season came in conference road games at Northwestern (92-88) and at Nebraska (88-72). Even recently the Boilermakers had to go to OT again with Northwestern on January 31st and were also down 10 points in the 2nd half at home vs. Minnesota on Thursday before rallying for an 8-point win.
Diebler takes over for Holtmann on Sunday which does come with some question marks – but it has to be better than the knowns for Ohio State, doesn’t it? The Buckeyes had dropped 9 of their last 11, are the second worst team in the conference at 4-10, and have never gotten past the 2nd round in any of Holtmann’s previous six seasons.
Free February 18th Purdue at Ohio State Betting Pick
Purdue is easily the more talented team here and Edey has been an absolute beast all season. With the Ohio State coaching change however along with the Boilermakers playing close games lately, and with too much of the public betting on Purdue this looks like a spot to take the points.
Free Pick: Ohio State +8.5
