Ohio vs Ball State 1/10/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Ball State Cardinals and the Ohio Bobcats meet in college basketball action from the Ohio Convocation Center on Tuesday night.

The Ball State Cardinals will try to build on their current seven-game win streak after a 70-63 win over Akron last time out. Jaylin Sellers leads the Cardinals in scoring with 14.4 PPG along with 4.6 RPG while Payton Sparks has 13.2 PPG with a team-high 7.9 RPG to lead Ball State on the glass and Jarron Coleman has 14.3 PPG with 4.7 RPG and a team-high 3.3 APG to lead the Cardinals in the assist department this season. Demarius Jacobs has 12.7 PPG with 4 RPG and 3.3 APG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Ball State so far this season. As a team, Ball State is averaging 76.9 PPG on 48.3% shooting from the field, 38.2% from three and 69% from the foul line this season.

The Ohio Bobcats will try to rebound from back-to-back losses after an 88-78 loss to Bowling Green last time out. Dwight Wilson III leads the Bobcats in scoring and rebounding with 13.3 PPG and 10 RPG while AJ Brown has 11.9 PPG through 11 games and Miles Brown has 10.7 PPG as the only last double-digit scorer for Ohio up to this point in the season. Jaylin Hunter has 9.3 PPG with a team-high 4.3 APG to lead the Bobcats in assists this season. As a team, Ohio is averaging 77.2 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field, 36.5% from three and 71.7% from the foul line this season.

Ball State is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 road games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600. Ohio is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 home games against a team with a losing road record and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 24-9-1 in their last 34 home games.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m siding with Ball State and the points here. The Cardinals have just been the more impressive team up to this point and while Ohio has had success at home, a lot of their recent games have come against much less than what they’re up against here. I think this is going to be a stiff test for the Bobcats and I just think Ball State ends up being too much. Give me the Cardinals in this one with the free bucket.