Today at 4 PM EST 4 ranked Ohio St. (18-6) faces 9 ranked Iowa (17-7) in an important Big Ten showdown.
Ohio St. has won 4 games straight before losing to a very talented Michigan squad last game.
With both teams on pace for a 2nd place finish in the conference, I anticipate a very high-level game to be played in terms of energy & skill.
Injury wise Ohio St. lost Jack Nunge for the season who's averaged (7.1 ppg) with a knee injury that occurred vs Michigan. Jack Nunge is the 2nd best in the country in adj offensive efficiency so it is not a minor loss for the Buckeyes.
Both teams are great at shooting the 3 ball with Iowa 4th in the country at 40.4% and Ohio St. at 41.4% in conference play.
In their first meeting against each other Iowa did not have their 3 Point specialist CJ Frederick (51.6% 3 pt) which will be a big boost for them. On top of that, he's Iowa's best defender as well.
Ohio St. is one of the select few teams that can go shot for shot with Iowa on the offensive side of the ball. Ohio St. is shooting an impressive 53% from 2 point land and 78% from the foul line which is big for them down the stretch in a tight game.
Ohio St's not great defensively but has got a ton better at defending the 3 ball which against Iowa will be one of the keys of the game if they were to get the victory.
Luka Garza's a very talented player that I expect to get his buckets but I don't feel his scoring will be enough to lead Iowa to a victory. That said on the spread, I'm betting Ohio St. -3.
On the over/under side I would take under 157.5 as there will be points scored but Iowa hasn't allowed an opponent over 80 points in its last 5 games so I feel it should be closer to 153-154.5.
