College basketball picks: Penn State-Ohio State prediction, odds, spread for February 23

The Penn State Nittany Lions will hit the road for a matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday night from Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The game will get started at 6:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on FS1.

I'm coming off a 6-0 night in college hoops picks, so let's take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook and make some picks.

Penn State vs. Ohio State odds

Spread: Ohio State -2
Over/Under: 142
Moneyline: Ohio State -130, Penn State +110

Penn State (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten) followed a four-game losing streak with consecutive wins including a 76-69 road victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday. Jalen Pickett scored a game-high 32 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. The Nittany Lions rate 51st overall in KenPom, including 16th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 129th on the defensive end.

Ohio State (11-16, 3-13 Big Ten) hasn't won a game in more than a month with an eight-game losing streak after getting crushed by the Purdue Boilermakers 82-55 on the road Sunday. Brice Sensabaugh scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-16 field goals including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Third-leading scorer and top rebounder Zed Key missed Sunday's game with a shoulder injury, and he may be shut down the rest of the season. The Buckeyes are 63rd in KenPom with an offense rated 28th in adjusted efficiency, but their defense is 114th in that category.

The Pick: Penn State +2

Putting your money on the Buckeyes right now feels like the most reckless thing a human can do especially against a Penn State team that is in must-win mode on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State is clearly better than what its record suggests, but the string of close losses have clearly worn on the Buckeyes because they're not even competitive in recent games. Ohio State lost its last three games by an average of 21.7 points, and it's tough to find where the motivation would come from.

  
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