Halftime Report

After a tough defeat on the road their last time out, Ohio State looks much better today on their home court. They have a bit of a cushion as they currently lead Valparaiso 41-30.

If Ohio State keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 7-4 in no time. On the other hand, Valparaiso will have to make due with a 5-5 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

Valparaiso Beacons @ Ohio State Buckeyes

Current Records: Valparaiso 5-4, Ohio State 6-4

How To Watch

What to Know

Beacons fans better hope the squad plays one heck of a game on Tuesday as the odds are decidedly against them. They will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a holiday battle at 8:00 p.m. ET at at Value City Arena. The Beacons are no doubt hoping to put an end to an eight-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.

Last Saturday, Valparaiso didn't have too much trouble with Central Michigan as they won 93-77.

Valparaiso's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was All Wright, who scored 26 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro, who had 16 points.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 91-53, which was the final score in Ohio State's tilt against Auburn on Saturday. The contest marked the Buckeyes' lowest-scoring match so far this season.

Ohio State's defeat came about despite a quality game from Devin Royal, who earned 14 points plus five rebounds.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Ohio State struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only five offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've posted since back in March.

Valparaiso now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Ohio State, they have not been sharp recently as the team has lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-4 record this season.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Valparaiso hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 78.8 points per game. However, it's not like Ohio State struggles in that department as they've been averaging 79.3. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

Odds

Ohio State is a big 21.5-point favorite against Valparaiso, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Buckeyes as a 22.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 151.5 points.

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