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NCAA Betting Preview: Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan State Spartans

The Ohio State Buckeyes (21-9, 11-8) travel to the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., for a Big Ten battle with the Michigan State Spartans (21-9, 13-6) on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans enter this contest as seven-point favorites with a posted total of 140.

Perseverance

Ohio State hits the road for its Big Ten regular-season finale, but it does so without D.J. Carton (leave of absence since Jan. 30), Musa Jallow (two ankle surgeries; has missed entire season) and Kyle Young (ankle sprain; missed past three games).

Despite those key absences, the Buckeyes have won four straight and six of seven, clicking at just the right time. In addition to an easy win over Nebraska during this stretch, Ohio State has taken down ranked conference foes Maryland, Michigan and Illinois.

Kaleb Wesson has picked up the slack for his missing teammates, leading Ohio State in scoring (14.2 points), rebounding (9.4 rebounds) and blocks (1.0 blocks). Wesson has a string of seven straight games in which he has reached double figures in points and has notched 11 double-doubles on the season.

In addition to winning four straight, the Buckeyes have covered the spread in all four and are 8-2 ATS over their last 10 games, only failing to cover as a short dog in losses to Iowa and Wisconsin.

Not to Be Outdone

Michigan State is also on a four-game winning streak and trying to close out its regular-season slate with five straight wins. With a win, the Spartans can clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

Like Sunday’s opponent, they hammered Nebraska during this current stretch and knocked off ranked opponents Iowa, Maryland and Penn State. Michigan State has responded to adversity in a big way, going from afterthought to dark horse title contender in a matter of a month.

Cassius Winston has overcome personal tragedy to lead the Spartans in scoring and enters Sunday’s finale as the third-leading scorer in the Big Ten. It’s likely a two-horse race for conference player of the year with Winston and Iowa’s Luka Garza.

Michigan State hasn’t been as potent ATS as their opponent, going 4-6 against the number in their last 10 outings, but they have covered three of their last four. They’ve been the favorite in nine of their last 10. They’re 4-5-1 to the over dating back to Jan. 29.

Free Betting Pick

This is the only meeting between the Buckeyes and Spartans this season, after Michigan State took all three matchups a year ago, including a quarterfinal victory in the Big Ten Tournament that gave coach Tom Izzo his 600th career win.

Michigan State has gone from a long shot to tied for the third-shortest odds to win the National Championship in many houses. It remains to be seen how they respond going from hunter to the hunted.

It has been extremely difficult to win on the road in the Big Ten this year, and I don’t see the Buckeyes bucking that trend in Winston and company’s final home game of the year. However, seven feels a bit high, so our play will be on the Buckeyes.

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