Minnesota
Ohio State vs. Minnesota Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Monday, January 6th
Ohio State will look for some Big Ten consistency on the road against Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers are struggling to keep up with high-end competition, yet to beat a top 80 team in the country thus far. Can the team score a home upset against Ohio State? The Buckeyes have yet to win a true road game but are laying a handful of points on the road on Monday night.
Here’s our best bet for this one.
Spread
Moneyline
Total: 136.5 (Over -110/Under -110)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Ohio State
Bruce Thornton: Enjoying a career-best year, Thornton is up to nearly 17 points per game while shooting 54% from the field and 44% from three. The veteran guard will be tasked with guiding the Buckeyes to a road win as the team looks to keep its three-point shooting at a high.
Minnesota
Dawson Garcia: The senior is averaging 19 points per game with seven rebounds while also showcasing improved playmaking with two assists per game. The Gophers are struggling to find consistency on offense, but a lot of it is coming from the 6’11” senior.
Ohio State continues to be an overvalued commodity after a strong start to the season. The team is ripe for regression, including three percent overall with a massive drop-off expected from beyond the arc (four percent), per ShotQuality.
The team will face a Minnesota team that grades out as a better defense according to shot quality and does a great job of contesting perimeter shots, which is a key to Ohio State’s offense. The Gophers are 38th in the country in three-point rate allowed, which can slow down Ohio State’s offense that ranks top 30 in three-point percentage.
The Gophers play at a prodding pace, bottom 10 in the country in adjusted tempo, and Ohio State’s defense continues to be overvalued due to poor shot-making marks, ranking 14th in effective field goal percentage. However, the team is outside of the top half of the country in turnover percentage, defensive rebounding rate, and opponent free throw rate.
In a low possession battle, give me the home underdog to keep this close.
PICK: Minnesota +5.5
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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We had another beautiful day across the region. Temperatures were still slightly below average. Winds will continue to be off the lake but our focus for tonight will be the chance for strong to severe thunderstorms across north-central Minnesota. The biggest threats will be hail, gusty winds and lightning.
Additional showers and thunderstorms are expected Wednesday, mainly during the afternoon and early evening.
Strong or severe storms are not currently expected Wednesday. However, some of these pop up storms could produce some damaging winds.
A more summer-like pattern is expected for the end of the week into early next week with increasing moisture and temperatures.
Chances for storms are expected to return on Sunday and continue into the new week.
Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms redevelop later tonight with fog by sunrise, the low will be around 48. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Wednesday
AM Fog with afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high near 63. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind around 5 mph.
Friday
Partly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
A slight chance of showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 69. Breezy, with an east wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Breezy, with an east wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Southeast wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
.
The Portland Trail Blazers picked Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as their next head coach on Tuesday, after making the playoffs for the first time in five years under the direction of interim coach Tiago Splitter.
Nori, who spent the past five seasons with the Timberwolves, has interviewed for multiple head coach vacancies, including the Chicago Bulls earlier this month, the New York Knicks last year, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.
Nori, 52, was the lead assistant under Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch while the club made the playoffs each season, won five series, and reached the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024. Nori, who began his NBA career in 1998 as a scout with the Toronto Raptors, has also been an assistant for the Raptors, the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, and the Detroit Pistons. His son, Dante, is a minor league baseball player in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Splitter, who was hired last week as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was promoted from assistant to interim coach when then-head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested in October in a federal takedown of a sprawling gambling operation. Billups has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The Blazers went 42-40 with a five-game loss to NBA finalist San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs, the first postseason appearance and first time they finished with a winning record in five years.
The news comes a day after the Wolves reportedly traded three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly trading three-time All-Star Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade that sends Nic Claxton to the Chicago Bulls.
Minnesota is sending the 28th pick to the Nets and will be receiving the No. 33 pick that will be made in the second round on Wednesday night, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not received the required approvals from the league office.
For Minnesota, the trade opens up a slew of financial possibilities. It creates a $33 million trade exception, plus gives the Timberwolves room they can use to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu and target more players in free agency.
Randle, a three-time All-Star, will be moving to his fifth team after stints with New York, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans and the Timberwolves. He averaged 21.1 points this past season, though shot just 39% from the field and 24% from 3-point range in Minnesota’s 12 playoff contests.
Claxton just finished his seventh NBA season, all with Brooklyn. He averaged 11.7 points this past season.
The 2026 NBA Draft begins Tuesday night.
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