Sunday afternoon’s Michigan State vs Ohio State game will be the second-to-last home game of the season for the Spartans. Ohio State presents a tough challenge, but the Buckeyes will be down a star player.
Michigan State, on the other hand, is down a sixth man, but they’ve gotten used to the trimmed-down rotation with Divine Ugochukwu injured. The Spartans are coming off a 23-point win over UCLA at home and they’re hoping for the same result against the Buckeyes. This isn’t a “gimme” by any means, though. Two years ago, Jake Diebler and the underdog Buckeyes came to East Lansing and stole a win from the Spartans.
Michigan State may be the reason Diebler is the full-time head coach of Ohio State.
Tom Izzo has to make sure his team remains focused on the task at hand: winning out. If the Spartans can win out, they’re going to be in line to earn a 2-seed. There’s a lot of work to do, but the opportunities to improve that seed line are there.
Final betting odds for Michigan State vs Ohio State
Michigan State is still a heavy favorite as of Sunday morning. The line has been moving more in the Spartans’ direction over the past 24 hours.
Odds via DraftKings as of Feb. 22
Line: Michigan State -10.5
Over/Under: 146.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -575 | Ohio State +425
Michigan State opened as a 9.5-point favorite and the line is now up over 10 which means that people have been betting heavily on the Spartans.
The Spartans are going to have home court advantage and the Buckeyes are down John Mobley which means that they’re down their second-best player. Michigan State is down Divine Ugochukwu and Denham Wojcik just suffered a shoulder injury and might be limited.
I still like Michigan State to win handily.
Michigan State is going to take a lead early and never look back, winning comfortably in East Lansing in the second-to-last home game of the season. Jeremy Fears will have another double-double, Jaxon Kohler will also have one, Jordan Scott will score a career-high, and Coen Carr will continue to play all-around good basketball.
Prediction: Ohio State 67, Michigan State 80