Illinois-OSU Report
The Ohio State Buckeyes can clinch at least a tie for the Big Ten title when they host the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday night. Here’s the latest from BroburySports.com.
OSU is a 9 ½-point home favorite at BroburySports. The game is on ESPN at 9 pm ET.
Ohio State (23-7 SU, 15-15 ATS) jumped from ninth to sixth in the latest AP poll. One of the teams they passed was Purdue. That’s ironic as the Buckeyes (13-4) have a half-game conference lead over Purdue (12-4) and Michigan State (12-4).
Purdue suffered a huge blow when it lost forward Robbie Hummel for the season (torn ACL). They could only muster 44 points in a 53-44 loss to Michigan State on Sunday.
The Buckeyes know all about losing one of their key players. Evan Turner, arguably the country’s second best player behind John Wall, missed six games earlier this season with a back injury.
The team went just 3-3 straight-up (SU) and 0-6 ATS without Turner. OSU is 20-4 SU and 15-9 ATS with him in the lineup.
Turner’s 19.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 5.9 APG are certainly gaudy numbers, but he’s getting plenty of help. Guard William Buford (14.2 PPG) had 24 points in a home win over Michigan on Saturday.
The 66-55 victory failed to ‘cover’ as 12 ½-point favorites, and they’ve now failed to ‘cover’ in it last four home games.
Illinois having a solid season
Illinois (18-11 SU, 12-16 ATS) is in fifth place in the Big Ten (10-6), but looking pretty good for a March Madness bid.
The Illini have stumbled a bit down the stretch, going 1-3 SU. That includes a 62-60 home loss to Minnesota on Saturday. Junior guard Demetri McCamey had only nine points on 4-of-18 shooting. He’s leading the team at 15 PPG.
Illinois has a couple of big guys (Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis) who should be able to give OSU trouble with their height. However, they weren’t much of a factor when the teams met on Feb. 14. OSU won 72-53 as two-point road favorites.
Illinois is 5-3 SU and 6-2 ATS on the road in-conference. They’re 5-0 ATS in the last five road games.
Bet on OSU and Illinois at BroburySports.com!
Posted: 3/2/10 10:45AM ET