The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Value City Arena. Illinois is 15-5 overall following a win over Indiana on Saturday. As for Ohio State, they’re 13-7 this year and coming off a loss to Northwestern. Let’s get into our Illinois vs. Ohio State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illini posted a 12-4 run over their first 16 games this year, falling to Marquette, Tennessee, Purdue and Maryland in that time. Illinois is 3-1 in their last four games with a lone loss to Northwestern among wins versus Michigan, Rutgers and Indiana along the way.
The Illini took on Indiana in their last outing on Saturday. In that matchup Illinois was up 38-34 going into the second half. The Illini hit a 32-28 run the rest of the way and took the victory 70-62. Leading the team in scoring was Marcus Domask with 16 points and 10 rebounds with four assists.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Over on the Buckeyes’ side, they got off to a great 12-2 start with losses to only Texas A&M and Penn State during that run. Ohio State is 1-5 in their last six outings with a win over Penn State alongside losses to Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska and Northwestern for a 13-7 record overall so far.
The Buckeyes were down 41-30 by halftime in the Northwestern game. Ohio State didn’t get any closer than that in a 42-28 second half and ended up losing 83-58. Topping the scorers in the losing effort was Bruce Thornton with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists.
ANDREW’S FREE ILLINOIS VS OHIO STATE PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Illinois. The Illini got past a pretty good Indiana team in their last outing despite shooting just 37.1 percent from the field and 65.4 percent from the line. Illinois kept the Hoosiers at bay with a 42-35 rebounding advantage and had just nine turnovers during the win. The Illini have scored 70 or more points in four straight games, a 3-1 stretch.
As for Ohio State, they’ve been in a scoring slump lately with 69 or fewer points in five of the last six games (all five were losses). The Buckeyes probably won’t have to push too hard to keep up with Illinois in this one, but I don’t think they’ll quite hit a cover.
