Ohio vs. Purdue Free Pick, Prediction, Odds 12/20/2018

The Ohio Bobcats aren’t getting much respect coming into this matchup on the road against Purdue, but Ohio has shown pretty well up to this point in the nonconference standing 7-3 overall. In their last outing Ohio beat Detroit on the road by a final of 63-61 and the Bobcats have grabbed other nice nonconference wins against teams like Iona, Marshall, and Radford. Forward Jason Carter has been solid leading the Bobcats averaging 19.3 points per game.
We expected Purdue to take more of a step back this season than what many were projecting coming into the year given the immense amount of veteran talent that moved on. Purdue could still make a run at the NCAA tournament, but it’ll be an uphill climb for the Boilermakers who currently stand 6-5 overall. Purdue has lost 4 of their last 5 games with tough fought losses coming during this stretch against Texas, Michigan, Florida State, and Notre Dame. Not surprisingly guard Carsen Edwards has taken on a larger role leading the team averaging 25.6 points per game.
Purdue has a great home court advantage and they’ll need it to try and cover a spread of this margin against a respectable mid-major opponent. We like Ohio’s offensive strengths to keep them within respectability as the Bobcats go on to cover the spread.