Purdue (15-4) vs Ohio State (10-8)
January 21, 2025 at 07:30 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Purdue -9.5 — Over/Under: 142.5
The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Purdue Boilermakers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Mackey Arena. Here’s an Ohio State vs Purdue prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Ohio State vs Purdue pick. We will examine:
The Ohio State Buckeyes’ recent form and player performance
The Purdue Boilermakers’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Ohio State Buckeyes
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Purdue Boilermakers
Recent betting trends in games played between Ohio State and Purdue
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Ohio State vs Purdue game
Ohio State Buckeyes Betting Preview
The Buckeyes have been a mixed bag in the record column this year; they’ve got some promising stretches as well as a few rough runs against some tricky opponents. Ohio State beat Texas, Youngstown State, Evansville, Campbell, and Green Bay (with a loss to Texas A&M) during a 5-1 start, then fell to Pittsburgh, Maryland, and Auburn in the next four games. A 4-1 stretch ensued with a loss to Michigan State among wins over Valparaiso, Kentucky, Indiana State, and Minnesota, then a three-game losing streak. Ohio State fell to Oregon, Wisconsin, and Indiana in that trio, bringing the Buckeyes to a 10-8 overall record so far this season.
In the Indiana game back on Friday, the Buckeyes posted a 35-29 edge in the first half but gave it back in the second. Ohio State would eventually lose a tough one 77-76 in overtime. Leading the team in the defeat was John Mobley with 22 points, three boards, and three assists. Micah Parrish added 19 points with four rebounds and three steals, while Bruce Thornton had 18 points with six rebounds and three assists in 43 minutes on the court.
Purdue Boilermakers Betting Preview
Over on the Boilermakers’ side, they’ve been quite the consistent team this year. Outside of a 1-3 run in December, Purdue has just one other defeat in the books. That loss came to Marquette following opener wins over Texas A&M-CC, Northern Kentucky, Yale, and Alabama. After that came wins over Marshall, NC State, and Ole Miss, then the aforementioned 1-3 skid. The lone win in that time was over Maryland; otherwise, it was losses to Penn State, Texas A&M, and Auburn. Since then it’s been a run of seven straight wins for Purdue. They’ve taken out Toledo, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon in that time on the way to a 15-4 overall mark in the record column this year.
Matched up against Oregon in the Saturday game, the Boilermakers left the first half with a 31-30 deficit. Purdue turned it on from there on a 35-27 run and took the comeback road win 65-58 in the end. Leading the team in scoring along the way was Trey Kaufman-Renn with 23 points and 11 boards for a double-double. Also in double-digits was Braden Smith, who posted 15 points, seven assists, four steals, and four rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
Why the Purdue Boilermakers will win
- Purdue has won each of its last 26 games at Mackey Arena.
- Ohio State has lost each of its last five games at Mackey Arena.
- Ohio State has lost the first half in seven of its last eight games at Mackey Arena.
Why the Ohio State Buckeyes will win
- The road team has won three of Purdue’s last four games.
Ohio State vs Purdue Prediction
I’m going to take a stab at Ohio State. Sure, the Buckeyes are mired in a three-game losing skid right now, but they’ve been highly competitive during that time. Ohio State’s last three losses have each come by two points or fewer—and two of those defeats were against tough-ranked squads in Oregon and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes have scored well during this current 4-4 run also. They’ve hit 68 or more points in seven of those eight outings.
As for Purdue, they took care of a good Oregon team in their last outing despite shooting just 33.9 percent from the field with 12 turnovers for 18 Ducks points. The Boilermakers have hit 68 or more points in eight straight games themselves (a 7-1 stretch), so Ohio State is going to have to push the issue on offense in order to keep pace. I think the Buckeyes will pull it off, though.