Indiana vs. Ohio State Feb. 10 Free Pick
After suffering a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of Illinois on the road, Indiana looks to bounce back with
an even tougher road test Sunday when they go to Ohio State to take on the tenth-ranked Buckeyes. This game will
almost surely be the last time Indiana is the top-
ranked team in the nation unless they are able to get the title back later in the year. After their loss on
Thursday night, the Hoosiers are expected to fall from the top spot. This game is opening Ohio State -2 with the
higher ranked team being on the road in this one.
Free Pick
Indiana comes into this game looking to make a statement by winning somewhere where fellow Big-10 conference foe, Michigan, could not do about a month ago. Junior guard, Victor Oladipo is playing as well as anybody in the nation right now and has been carrying the Hoosiers through the brutal Big-10 grind. It is unknown whether or not Oladipo, who is considered arguably the best defender in the nation, will spend any time on the conference’s leading-scorer DeShaun Thomas, who is averaging a tick below 20 points per game (19.9). Even if Oladipo isn’t on Thomas, Indiana has enough athleticism and strength on the perimeter to match up with Thomas, who uses a long, lanky frame to create mis-matches and either take smaller defenders on the block or larger ones out to the perimeter. Offensively, look for Indiana to try and feed Cody Zeller early and test the youth on the inside for the Buckeyes. Center Amir Williams is a big body who has shown plenty of potential this season but he is still raw and inexperienced to be guarding the pre-season Player of the Year. If Zeller is able to have his way down low it will open up space for three-point looks for Watford, Oladipo, Sheehey and company.
Ohio State is not the most capable of offensive teams. Aaron Craft is a phenomenal competitor and gets every bit of production out of himself and his teammates. He will run the show for Ohio State and look to find Thomas early and often. Lenzelle Smith Jr. is a huge “x-factor” for the Buckeyes. If he is hitting shots from the outside it adds another scoring threat that Ohio State lacks badly at times – especially when Thomas is struggling. The Buckeyes will try to slow this game down and depend on their defense, grit and the scoring ability of Thomas to be able to send the number one team in the polls to an 0-2 week.
This game will be very under the microscope after the struggles of Michigan, Florida and Kansas this week. If Indiana is able to get a huge road win they may not suffer much of a drop in the rankings. An 0-2 week after being re-named number one would be a tough pill to swallow for Tom Crean’s club. I don’t see it happening, however. Look for the Hoosiers to come out hungry and get the road win against a team with much less pure talent.
Free Pick: Indiana +2