Ohio State seeks second win against Marshall at Schottenstein Center

Ohio State men’s basketball players will take the court Monday at 6 p.m. ET at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, to host the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Buckeyes enter the contest with a 1-1 record, looking to extend their home winning streak to 1-0. They secured their season opener with a 24-point victory over Youngstown State on Friday.

Marshall also holds a 1-1 record but arrives in Columbus after a 81-76 loss to Toledo on Saturday. This marks the first road game for the Thundering Herd this season. In the 2025-26 campaign, Marshall finished with a 19-13 record and tied for second place in the Sun Belt Conference with an 11-7 mark.

The Buckeyes finished the previous season with a 21-13 overall record, placing eighth in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-8 mark. Current betting odds list Ohio State as a 25.5-point favorite. The total points line for the game is set at 162.5.

SportsLine’s projection model simulated the matchup 10,000 times to analyze potential outcomes. The model has an 11-1 record on top-rated over/under picks since 2025 and a 28-22 record on top-rated side picks. Based on these simulations, the under 162.5 total is projected to hit 53% of the time.

The model anticipates a concentrated scoring effort for the visitors. It projects that only one Marshall player will score in double figures. Noah Otshudi is expected to lead the Thundering Herd offense with a projected average of nearly 14 points.

In contrast, the projection suggests a more distributed attack for the home team. The model predicts that three Ohio State players will score at least 12 points each. John Mobley Jr., Amare Bynum, and Jimmie Williams are the specific players projected to meet that threshold.

The simulation data indicates that one side of the spread hits in 70% of the runs. The detailed projections account for specific player performance metrics and suggest a lower-scoring game than the current market line implies.