The Purdue Boilermakers basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. Purdue basketball has the most Big Ten Championships with 24. The Boilermakers have reached two NCAA Tournament Final Fours, but have not won an NCAA Championship.
Purdue vs Texas: Odds| Picks| Expert predictions| Highlights
Odds:
Texas defeated Virginia Tech 81-73, the Longhorns’ first NCAA Tournament victory in eight years. Every Longhorns starter scored in double figures, led by Andrew Jones’ 21 points, including 5 3-pointers. Texas made better than 50% of its 3s.
Timmy Allen (6-6 senior) leads the Longhorns (12.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals). Marcus Carr (6-2 senior) adds 10.9 points and a team-leading 3.2 assists. Andrew Jones (6-3 senior) adds 10.7 points and 54 3-pointers.
Picks:
59.6: Opponents’ scoring per game (5th best in the nation)
9.2: Opponents’ assists per game (4th best in the nation)
30.2: Opponents’ second-half scoring (2nd fewest in the nation)
+3.3: Turnover margin
+1.4: Rebound margin
32.3: 3-point shooting percentage
Who is Texas’ coach?
Chris Beard is Texas’ first-year coach after spending five years at Texas Tech.
Expert Predictions:
The Boilermakers need a big game out of their sophomore star, but he also needs to play under control. Ivey can’t have unforced turnovers – and that includes quick shots – for Purdue to challenge the Longhorns’ defense.
Getting Ivey into a rhythm early would allow the Boilermakers to dictate the tempo.
Zach Edey: Yale didn’t have enough bodies to handle the 7-foot-4 sophomore, but not sure Texas does either.
Highlights:
The Longhorns are going to run the senior off the 3-point line as much as possible. What’s the counter? This has happened before, and the Boilermakers didn’t react well.
They’ll need to adjust to either free up Stefanovic or someone else. Purdue needs its top 3-point shooter to be productive in this game.
The Longhorns don’t feature a lot of size – compared to Purdue – but will bring a higher level of an athlete to the equation, meaning double teams will come quicker. They’ll be looking to force Edey to pass from the low block and not control the paint.
