One of the highlights of another crazy weekend in the Big Ten is Sunday’s showdown between the No. 19 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 23 Ohio State Buckeyes. At home, Ohio State is a 3.5-point favorite with an over/under of 137 points.
After a disastrous and disappointing January, the Buckeyes have crawled their way back into the Top 25 and have likely assured themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State has won seven of its last nine games, including a win over a Top 10 Maryland team last weekend. It’s too late to win the Big Ten, but the Buckeyes can still improve their seed for the conference tournament if they stay hot.
Michigan is in a similar boat. They are tied with Ohio State at 9-8 in conference play, putting them too far back in the standings to win the regular-season title. However, the Wolverines had won five in a row and seven of their last eight before falling to Wisconsin mid-week. Juwan Howard’s team has had a great February to solidify a tournament bid.
Five Deep
Michigan had three star players leading them last season, but this year they have a balanced five-man attack. The Wolverines have five players who average at least 11 points per game, which helps to make up for not having one bonafide star.
The caveat is that junior guard Eli Brooks missed the game against Wisconsin due to injury. His status for Sunday’s game remains unclear, which is bad news for the Wolverines after he was clearly missed in the loss.
The good news for Michigan is that Zavier Simpson is more than capable of picking up the slack. He scored 32 points in the loss to Wisconsin, although he didn’t get much help from his teammates until it was too late. Nevertheless, he’s one of the best distributors in the Big Ten, averaging close to eight assists per game.
He can keep Michigan on track if he gets enough support from Isaiah Livers and Jon Teske, who both struggled against Wisconsin.
Aerial Attack
There’s no doubt that Ohio State is one of the best shooting teams in the Big Ten, and perhaps the country. The Buckeyes have seven players who have made over 20 three-pointers this season. The scary part is that all of them shoot better than 33% from the perimeter, with four of them shooting over 40% from deep.
All it takes is a couple of guys to get hot, and opposing defenses are left scrambling to cover shooters.
At the same time, the Buckeyes have a strong inside presence with Kaleb Wesson. While he’s one of Ohio State’s capable shooters, Wesson can be a handful in the paint, averaging 14 points and close to 10 rebounds per game. His brother Andre Wesson can also get in the lane and do some damage and has been one of Ohio State’s more reliable scorers over the past two months.
As Tight as Can Be
These two teams went down to the wire when they met for the first time this season. The Buckeyes won that game, leaving the Wolverines seeking redemption. Michigan is better than it showed for most of its loss to Wisconsin and will be hungry for redemption. Bet on Michigan against the spread on Sunday.
