Illinois vs Ohio State College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/14/21

The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet in the Big Ten conference championship game in college basketball action from Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Ohio State Buckeyes reached the title game thanks to a narrow 68-67 win over Michigan on Saturday. Duane Washington Jr. led the Buckeyes in scoring, rebounding and assists with 24 points on 9 of 20 shooting with 5 threes, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while E.J. Liddell had 18 points with 3 threes, 5 rebounds and 3 assists as the only other double-digit scorer for Ohio State in the winning effort. Seth Towns added 4 blocks while C.J. Walker had 7 points with 4 assists of his own in the victory.

The Illinois Fighting Illini got to the championship with an 82-71 win over Iowa on Saturday. Kofi Cockburn led the Illini in scoring with 26 points on 11 of 17 shooting with 8 rebounds while Ayo Dosunmu had 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting with 7 rebounds and 9 assists to lead the Illini in the assist department. Alex Curbelo had 12 points with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to cap off the scoring in double figures for Illinois in the victory. Damonte Williams also has a team-high 9 rebounds as well in the victory for the Illini.

Ohio State is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog while the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games following a win. Illinois is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 13-3-1 ATS in their last 17 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a favorite. The underdog is 7-2 ATS in the last 9 meetings between these two teams.

I get Illinois being favored here as the Illini just flat out took it to Iowa in Saturday’s semifinal, but this just feels like a situation where Ohio State is getting way too many points. Illinois will have the two best players on the floor in Cockburn and Dosunmu but that adversity hasn’t stopped Ohio State from hanging in and winning games throughout the Big Ten tournament I think this is a 2-point game whichever way you have it so give me Ohio State and the points here.