Xavier vs Ohio State College Basketball Picks, Best Bets and Odds 11/18/2021
Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) vs. Xavier Musketeers (2-0)
November 18, 2021 6:30 pm EDT
The Line: Xavier Musketeers +2 / Ohio State Buckeyes -2; Over/Under: -140.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Xavier Musketeers meet in college basketball action from the Cintas Center on Thursday evening.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will try to remain unbeaten after an 89-58 win over Bowling Green in their last game. E.J. Liddell leads the Buckeyes in scoring with 22.3 PPG along with 6.3 RPG and 3.3 APG while Zed Key has 12.3 PPG with a team-high 7 RPG as the only other Buckeye averaging double figures in scoring so far this season. Jamari Wheeler also has a team-high 4 APG this season. As a team, Ohio State is averaging 80 PPG on 49.4% shooting from the field, 36.1% from three and 67.9% from the foul line while allowing 66 PPG on 41.7% shooting from the field and 39.1% from three this season.
The Xavier Musketeers will be looking to build on their 2-0 start after a 73-59 win over Kent State last time out. Paul Scruggs has a team-high 20 PPG and 4.5 APG with 6 RPG as well while Colby Jones has 17.5 PPG with 6.5 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for the Musketeers so far this season. Jack Nunge has 9 PPG with 5 RPG and Jerome Hunter’s got 6.5 PPG and a team-high 9 RPG as well this season. As a team, Xavier is averaging 68 PPG on 39% shooting from the field, 25% from three and 69.8% from the foul line while allowing 59.5 PPG on 37.4% shooting from the field and 37.5% from three this season.
Ohio State is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 road games and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games following a win while the over is 8-1-1 in their last 10 games following a win. Xavier is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 Thursday games.
I get why the Buckeyes would be favored in this spot, but Ohio State hasn’t been all that good at covering the number this season. The argument could also be made that Ohio State hasn’t had to cover a small number/near pick ‘em like this, but I’m still not sold on the Buckeyes as they haven’t had much secondary production outside of Liddell. Xavier has a solid team and they get up for these in-state rivalry games as I think that sometimes the bigger boys like Ohio State and Cincinnati don’t always take Xavier seriously. Give me the Musketeers in this one.
