Before every Ohio State men’s basketball game, Connor Lemons gets you ready for that day’s action with key stats, players to know, and prevalent storylines for that day’s game on the “Good Hoops Morning” podcast.
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Ohio State Buckeyes (-9.5) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights| over/under 150.5
Game Date/Time: Friday, January 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Piscataway, New Jersey
TV: Peacock
Radio: 97.1 FM/ 971thefan.com
Ohio State
(9-3, 1-1) heads to Piscataway, New Jersey on Friday to face Rutgers (7-6, 0-2) and try to start 2-1 in Big Ten play. If Ohio State wins Friday, the Buckeyes will have started 2-1 (or better) in conference play in four of the last five seasons.
By any metric, Rutgers has been the worst Big Ten team so far this season, having lost to Central Connecticut State at home and sitting between 150-200 in both the NET and KenPom. They average the fewest points per game in the Big Ten (68.7) and have the lowest field goal percentage in the conference (40.3%). They struggle shooting it from two and from three, and struggle to keep their opponents off the offensive glass.
The Scarlet Knights play slow, and their path to victory Friday night is probably to limit total possessions and make sure the game is played in the 50’s or 60’s rather than the 70’s or 80’s. The RAC has claimed bigger victims before, so even a lesser Rutgers team shouldn’t be taken lightly when playing in Piscataway.
Connor’s prediction: Ohio State 71, Rutgers 60
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
