Ohio State vs St. Francis-PA 12/3/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The St. Francis PA Red Flash and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet Saturday in college basketball action from Value City Arena. St. Francis PA enters this one at 2-6 overall. The Red Flash lost to Bucknell in their last game. As for Ohio State, they’re 5-2 and fresh off a loss to Duke. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

St. Francis PA managed to go just 1-4 over their first five games. The losses in that stretch were versus St. Bonaventure, Cornell, Butler and Lehigh. The Red Flash bounced back with a win over Franciscan then lost to American in game seven. 

St. Francis PA’s slide continued in their Wednesday game versus Bucknell. The Red Flash were within one point at halftime, then hit a 56-33 deficit for an 89-65 loss. Tops in scoring was Josh Cohen with 18 points and seven boards. 

Over on the Ohio State side, they posted victories in their first three games this year over Robert Morris, Charleston Southern and Eastern Illinois. After a loss to San Diego State the Buckeyes took out Cincinnati and Texas Tech. 

On Wednesday versus Duke, Ohio State trailed 39-29 by the break. The Buckeyes got better in the second half with 43 points but ended up losing 81-72. Zed Key led the way on 21 points, and Sean McNeil added 14 points with three rebounds. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Ohio State. Probably not touching it due to the thick line, though. The Buckeyes had a rough first half against a very good Duke team in their last outing. Ohio State managed to shoot 47.3 percent from the floor but only hit 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from 3-point range. The Buckeyes have fallen in both matchups versus ranked teams so far this year, and they’ll get another crack at one (North Carolina) on December 17. For now, Ohio State will most certainly win this game—the only question is by how much. I’m thinking the Buckeyes will bounce back and assert their dominance with a cover.