Posts Tagged ‘JaJuan Johnson’
Could a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament really be on the line on Wednesday night in Columbus? Both the Purdue Boilermakers and Ohio State Buckeyes certainly hope so. Recent losses by Georgetown, Villanova, and Syracuse have really opened up the conversations for the best team in the Big Ten to slip onto the #1 line, and the winner of this Hump Day duel could have an inside track. Both of these teams are scorching right now as well. Since that three-game slide in the middle of January, the Boilers are a rock solid 7-0 SU and 4-3 ATS. The Buckeyes are even hotter, going 9-1 SU and 6-4 against the college basketball betting lines in their L/10. You know that you’re in great shape if you’re Purdue HC Matt Painter when you can say that a combined effort of 41 points, six assists, and 18 rebounds from your biggest three players is considered an off night. That was the case for G E’Twaun Moore, F Robbie Hummel, and F JaJuan Johnson on Saturday in a 63-40 romp of Iowa. All three are averaging over 15 points per game in this, their third season in West Lafayette together, and it doesn’t seem to matter where these guys are playing. They always seem to come up big. There arguably isn’t a better threesome in college basketball today, which is why the Boilers have moved all the way up to the #4 team in the country. Those three may be dominant forces as a unit, but can any of the three of them stop F Evan Turner? Ohio State’s superstar is averaging 20.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game during this great ten game run for HC Thad Motta’s team. He was particularly strong against Purdue last month, scoring 32 points and bringing in nine boards in a truly dominant effort. The Buckeyes shot 51% from the floor against Purdue in the first clash of these titans, and if they can stay anywhere near their 49.9% shooting as a team on the season in this one, they’ll probably be headed to yet another ‘W’. Both of these teams have intriguing cases in this game. Last week, Purdue marched into Michigan State and took out the Spartans with ease. Ohio State already knows that it has beaten the Boilers once this year. It’s hard to go against either squad right now, but the team that has faced the better competition has been Purdue. Look for the Boilermakers to keep it very tight with Ohio State the entire way, and though the Bucks may ultimately prove to be victorious SU, a game decided by a bucket one way or the other seems to be in the cards. Selection: Purdue Boilermakers The Boilermakers have gone 2-1 ATS on the road against probable NCAA Tournament teams this season and will look to make that 3-1 on Wednesday night. They’re lined at +3 on the NCAA basketball betting line right now at Bookmaker Sportsbook!
Purdue Boilermakers
(21-3, 11-12-1 ATS)
Ohio State Buckeyes
(20-6, 13-13 ATS)
Tags: college basketball betting, E'Twaun Moore, Evan Turner, JaJuan Johnson, Matt Painter, NCAA basketball betting, Ohio State Buckeyes, Purdue Boilermakers, Robbie Hummel, Thad Motta
Top-10 rivals and two of the best teams from the Big Ten meet in what should be a fantastic college basketball gambling duel on Tuesday night in East Lansing. The Michigan State Spartans are coming off of their worst week of the season. They were hammered in Wisconsin and narrowly taken out by Illinois in their first two Big Ten losses of the season. They’re now just 0-4 ATS in their L/4 and 1-6 ATS in their L/7 overall. Meanwhile, since that dastardly three-game skid in the middle of January, the Purdue Boilermakers have really rebounded nicely, winning five straight games SU. NCAA basketball gambling fans haven’t been too thrilled with their efforts though, as they are just 2-6 ATS in their L/8. HC Matt Painter really needs to see some more consistent efforts from his team to pick up some wins against the NCAA basketball spreads. It feels like on nights that the defense struggles, such as when it gave up 75 points to Indiana last week is when the offense is at its best, but when the ‘O’ fails like it did its previous three games in which it only averaged 65.0 PPG, the defense steps it up a notch. The two just haven’t come together since a January 5th thumping of Minnesota. Don’t blame the threesome of G E’Twaun Moore, F Robbie Hummel, and F JaJuan Johnson, though. Those three are putting up 48.1 points per game between the three of them, but no one else on the team is scoring more than 6.0 points per game. Meanwhile in Spartan land, HC Tom Izzo isn’t necessarily looking for more consistency. He’s just hoping to get his top guard back on the court. G Kalin Lucas missed the Illinois game and only played a bit over a half of basketball against Wisconsin. He is the heart and soul of this offense, scoring 15.6 points per game, and he is frequently the man who is called upon to take the big shot. Lucas’ ankle injury has him listed as questionable, though. If he can’t go, F Raymar Morgan needs to step it up in a big way. Morgan has only scored a total of 16 points in his L/3 games overall, and that just won’t cut it for a team that is hoping to return to the National Championship game in April. There’s a ton of inconsistency right now on the Michigan State roster, and though the Spartans are a tough team to beat in East Lansing, the Boilermakers have enough veteran leadership to get the job done. It’s a short spread, but Purdue should walk away with another huge victory to move one step closer towards the regular season Big Ten championship, especially if Lucas doesn’t play for Sparty. Selection: Purdue Boilermakers The Boilermakers are a solid 5-1 ATS in their L/6 games played against the Spartans. BetPhoenix is your home for all of the great NCAA basketball betting action, so sign-up for an account right now through Bang the Book and capitalize on Purdue at +2.5!
Purdue Boilermakers
(19-3, 9-12-1 ATS)
Michigan State Spartans
(19-5, 8-15 ATS)
