Ohio Bobcats (18-13) vs. Ball State Cardinals (20-11)
March 9, 2023 1:30 pm EDT
The Line: Ball State Cardinals PK / Ohio Bobcats PK; Over/Under: 157
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The Ohio Bobcats and the Ball State Cardinals meet Thursday in MAC Tournament college basketball action from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Ohio is currently 18-13 on the season. The Bobcats beat Bowling Green in their last matchup on Friday. As for Ball State, they finished the regular season on a 20-11 record. The Cardinals lost to Toledo in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Ohio Bobcats
Ohio stayed above .500 in their first 24 games this year, going 13-11 overall. The Bobcats closed out the year on a pretty solid 5-2 run, taking wins over Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green during that time.
Back on Friday versus Bowling Green, the Bobcats jumped out to a 54-26 halftime edge. Ohio got better from there on a 38-32 run and took the win in blowout fashion 92-58. Leading scorer Dwight Wilson notched 20 points with seven rebounds.
Ball State Cardinals
Over on the Ball State side, they went 17-7 over their first 24 games this year. The Cardinals’ final seven games were a 3-4 run with wins over Bowling Green, NIU and Kent State. The losses came versus Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Akron and Toledo.
Matched up against Toledo back on Friday, the Cardinals went into the locker room trailing 40-35. Ball State was outscored 47-46 from there and lost 87-81. Payton Sparks led the team on a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably take a stab on Ohio here. The Bobcats are playing pretty solid basketball right now, and they’ve scored 68 or more points in 14 straight games. As for Ball State, they’re just 1-4 in their last five but they’re still scoring well also. These teams only saw each other once this year, back on January 10. That one was a 76-71 Bobcats win at Ohio University Convocation Center. Ohio fell behind 29-26 at the break but recovered on 50 second-half points for the comeback victory. This one’s probably going to be a back-and-forth affair as well, and I like the Bobcats to power out the cover/win. Should be a fun one to watch.
