Amongst Friday night’s slate of games features a Big Ten showdown between the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines (12-1) and the Purdue Boilermakers (11-5). Purdue will host this one from the Mackey Arena with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
After being upset by No. 17 Minnesota 75-57 last Saturday, the Wolverines were able to bounce back with an 87-63 win over unranked Maryland on Tuesday. Isaiah Livers scored 20 points in the victory and pulled down five rebounds, while three other Wolverines also scored in double digits. Michigan will look to keep it rolling on the road against a tough Purdue team.
Speaking of the Boilermakers, they currently sit in fourth in the Big Ten with a conference record of 6-3 and would love to knock off the top-ranked Wolverines (7-1 in the Big Ten). They will also try to keep their home record unblemished as they are currently 6-0 when playing at Mackey Arena.
Michigan is just a slight favorite playing on the road. They are -148 to win while the Boilermakers’ moneyline sits at +126. The spread features Purdue +2.5 while the over/under for total points is 137.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Michigan holds the advantage in this one. They rank 23rd, averaging 80.5 points per game. For Purdue, they rank 158th, averaging 71.4 points per game.
Michigan also has a slight advantage when it comes to scoring defense. They rank 69th in the country, allowing opponents just 66.3 points per game. Purdue comes in 75th, allowing 66.7.
Michigan Looks To Keep Lead In Big Ten
While Michigan currently holds the edge in the Big Ten over the 6-1 Iowa Hawkeyes, Michigan will look to keep the pressure on the rest of the conference by picking up the road win at Purdue.
To do so, they will lean on their star freshmen, Hunter Dickinson. Being projected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Dickinson has averaged 15.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. He leads the team in all three of those categories. What might be the most remarkable stat, though, is his 70.3% shooting from the field.
Dickinson can’t do it alone, though, and he has two solid scoring options behind him in forward Isaiah Livers and guard Franz Wagner. Livers is averaging 14.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, while Wagner is averaging 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.
Other notable contributors include Chaundee Brown (9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds), Mike Smith (8.6 points, 5.8 assists), and Eli Brooks (8.6 points, 3.8 assists).
Purdue Looks To Stay Perfect At Mackey
As evidenced by their 6-0 start there, Purdue certainly loves playing at home in Mackey Arena. While it doesn’t have the same raucous environment due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Boilermakers will hope that their homecourt advantage can lift them to victory over Michigan.
Purdue is led this season by junior forward Trevion Williams. He is almost averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Sasha Stefanovic (11.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists) and Eric Hunter (10.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists) are the other vital parts to head coach Matt Painter’s offense.
Others chipping in for the Boilermakers include Brandon Newman (9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Zach Edey (8.1 points, 3.9 rebounds).
Michigan Wins And Covers
This one could come down to how well Michigan can take care of the ball. Thus far, they have been averaging 13 turnovers a game and have not won too many of the turnover battles against their opponents.
Still, Michigan has the size and depth to win this one and will look for a big game from star freshman Hunter Dickinson. While I anticipate it being pretty close throughout, I ultimately like Michigan to win and cover the small 2.5-point spread.
