The top-ranked Purdue Boilermakers face the Ohio State Buckeyes as they try to bounce back from their first loss of the season.
TV listings: Thursday, January 5, 7:00 PM ET, FS1
position: Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio
As the week began, the Purdue Boilermakers appeared to march to Value City Arena as an undefeated team. deserves to rank first With AP voting. No more.
On Monday night, the Boilermakers suffered their first loss of the season, losing at home to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. It was the second time in years that Rutgers had knocked Purdue off in a close game, following Ron Harper Jr.’s memorable buzzer-beater last season.
Purdue now faces a possible second straight loss. Going to Columbus is no joke, and these Ohio Buckeyes have exceeded expectations this season.
No Big Ten team has played more than three conference games at this point, but only three have not yet lost a league game: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. His one of the Buckeyes’ victories came against the same Scarlet Knights in a highly controversial fashion. Another came to Northwestern.
Teams can sometimes be compared by comparing their performance against a common foe, in this case Rutgers. But it doesn’t work here. Both games were incredibly close and he was one point behind at the end. Had it not been for the controversial call in favor of Ohio State, both teams would have lost by one shot to the Rutgers. Let’s discard it.
Purdue’s greatest strength is its big game. Zach EadyFew teams can consistently stop him when the 7-foot-4-inch center is at his best. He’s had a serious run at National Player of the Year and has stepped into his one of the best offensive rebounding his teams in the country.
No one at Ohio State can match Edie’s physique, but the Buckeyes can get along with anyone. Zed Key looks like a star. Judge Swing completes the group of strong positions.
During Chris Holtman’s tenure at Columbus, the Buckeyes faced the nation’s top-ranked teams twice. They won both of these games at home.
Ohio State is also undefeated at home in seven games this season. The crowd at Value City Arena should be raucous, as the Buckeyes claim to join the Big Ten elite.
Purdue has never been in trouble this season. The Big Ten is a gauntlet with the ability to take 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament. All teams, even the best, get hit in the league.
Ultimately, the home-court advantage must be strong enough to propel Ohio State past Zach Eadie in the Tower toward a minor upset and wind up Purdue on a two-game losing streak.
predict: Ohio 70, Purdue 68
