Purdue Boilermakers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Picks: 2011 College Basketball Picks

This would be the biggest statement game of the year for the Boilermakers. We know that Head Coach Matt Painter has a team that is good, but we’re not so sure whether the team is truly great and capable of winning it all without Robbie Hummel in the fold. Purdue did send out a warning signal to Ohio State this weekend when it took out the Michigan State Spartans at home in a very impressive 86-76 performance. There is no doubt that a game played just like that one would yield at least a very close result, if not an outright victory against the undisputed No. 1 team in America. The key has been finding a third scorer to go with E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. Johnson had a great 20 point effort against the Spartans on Saturday, but Moore was the hero with 26 points. However, neither one would have been able to win that game on their own without the services of Lewis Jackson, who put together a 19 point showing. Jackson has been inconsistent, but he does have three games with at least 15 points scored since Big Ten play started, and he is going to be key to sticking within the college basketball odds on Tuesday night.

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Ohio State might be 20-0, and it might have some of the best numbers in the country, but at least to us, it just doesn’t pass the eye test quite yet. The Buckeyes are averaging 79.0 points per game and are allowing just 57.2 points per game, but we know that they haven’t faced their toughest challenges of the year. The victory at Assembly Hall against the Illinois Fighting Illini over the weekend was one of the harder road contests left on the slate. Jared Sullinger came up with arguably his biggest game of the year when he needed it the most, as the rest of his teammates really let him down on the day. He played all 40 minutes and scored 27 points and came down with 16 boards. This whole “40 minutes per game” thing isn’t going to last for long though, as Sullinger, Jon Diebler, and David Lighty all went without a break on Saturday. Those three are averaging 30 minutes per game, and William Buford isn’t all that far behind either. Fatigue could set in at some point, especially since this is a relatively quick turnaround with only two days off.

The Buckeyes won’t get upset in this game, but there is no doubt in our mind that they are going to get a run for their money. We’re expecting to see the Boilers catching a ton of points on the NCAA basketball betting lines, and we know that getting any more than about five or so is a gift that cannot be turned down.