In the Big Ten, the Northwestern Wildcats are on the road at the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday. These two teams are both in the top half of the Big Ten standings. Northwestern upset the Boilermakers the first time these two teams met back in early December.
The Northwestern Wildcats are 15-5 on the season. The Wildcats have won back to back games over Illinois and Ohio State. Overall, Northwestern is 7-3 in their last 10 games.
For Purdue, they are 19-2 on the season. The Boilermakers have won five straight games. Their most recent win was on the road at Rutgers.
Purdue is a huge favorite at -13.5 in this game. The total is set at 143.5.
Wildcats Seeking Season Sweep
After falling on the road at Nebraska, the Wildcats backed it up with two massive wins over Illinois and Ohio State. The win over the Buckeyes was the fifth straight home win since the debacle of losing to Chicago State at home. The Wildcats are looking to close January with their sixth win of the month.
In Big Ten standings, the Wildcats are tied with Illinois for third, trailing only Wisconsin and Purdue. The Wildcats are scoring 74.4 points per game. The top scorer for Northwestern has been Boo Buie. Buie has played all 20 games this season, and is one of four WIldcats in double digits. Buie is scoring 18.5 points per game.
The Wildcats will remain on the road to open February. Northwestern is at Minnesota. After that, the Wildcats are at home for back to back games. They will host Nebraska and Penn State before heading to Rutgers.
Edey and the Boilermakers
There is a good chance Zach Edey will be named the College Basketball National Player of the Year. The big man for Purdue controls everything in the pain. Edey is scoring 23 points per game, and recording more than 11 rebounds per game for Purdue. In their most recent win, he scored 26 and ripped down 12 rebounds against Rutgers.
The Boilermakers come into the game with the 15th best offense in College Basketball. Purdue is scoring 84.9 points per game. Due in large part to Edey, the Boilermakers are 8th in the nation with 38.8 rebounds per game. The defense for Purdue is allowing 68.6 per game. Lance Jones is second on the team with 12.1 points per game. Jones had 24 in a recent win over Michigan.
Purdue faces a tough test after this game as well. The Boilermakers are in Madison to take on Wisconsin on Sunday. After that, Purdue heads back home for back to back home games against Indiana and Minnesota.
Big Time Pay Back for Purdue
This is going to be some pay back. The Purdue Boilermakers are irritated that Northwestern beat them the first time they played. Not this time. The fans in Purdue are going to be ready to go. The Boilermakers are going to win this game, and win it easily. We expect Purdue to win by double digits over the Wildcats. When you make your bets, take Purdue -13.5 over Northwestern in this Big Ten affair on Wednesday!
