Penn State Nittany Lions vs Purdue Boilermakers Betting Preview
The Big Ten quarterfinals are set to get underway on Friday, and the final game of the day features the No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions (14-16) squaring off with the No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers (25-6). This game will be played at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with tipoff scheduled for 9:00 pm ET.
The winner of this matchup will meet up with the winner of Wisconsin and Michigan State on Saturday in the semifinals.
During the regular season, Purdue picked up a 74-67 win over Penn State on the road back on January 8. In the win, Trevion Williams had 21 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Pickett had 21 points and ten assists in the loss for Penn State.
To get here, Penn State upset No. 6 Ohio State 71-68 on Thursday. In the win, Sam Sessoms scored a team-high 18 points while Pickett added 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Purdue has had a bye to this point in the tournament. Their last game was a 69-67 win over Indiana at home in the regular-season finale. They are hoping to sharpen back up as they lost two of their last three to end the regular season.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to the NCAA tournament, Purdue is tied for the seventh-best odds of winning it at +1800. Penn State is seen as too much of a longshot to be given odds since they would need to win the Big Ten tournament just to get into the NCAA tournament.
By The Numbers
Purdue has one of the best offenses in the nation. They rank sixth in scoring averaging 80.7 points per game. Penn State ranks 307th, averaging 64.5 points.
Defensively, it is Penn State with the advantage. They rank 35th in the nation in scoring defense as they are allowing opponents an average of just 64.8 points per game. Purdue ranks 154th allowing 68.8 points.
Penn State Looking For Back-To-Back Upsets
Not too many people gave the Nittany Lions a chance to upset Ohio State on Thursday. There will be even more doubters on Friday as they look to pick up back-to-back upsets as they square off with the Boilermakers.
Penn State relies on a strong defense, but they have gotten solid play out of senior guard Jalen Pickett this season on the offensive side. He is averaging a team-high 13.1 points on 41.2% shooting. He is also averaging 4.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
The Nittany Lions have three others averaging double digits, including Seth Lundy (12.4 points, five rebounds), Sam Sessoms (11.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists), and John Harrar (10.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists).
Purdue Can’t Get Caught Looking Ahead
Ranked in the top ten in the country all season, Purdue has its sights on a Big Ten championship before trying to win the National Championship. They can’t get complacent, though, as Penn State’s defense has the ability to give teams fits.
Purdue’s elite offense will try to prevent that from happening. This season, they have been led by sophomore guard Jaden Ivey. He is averaging 17.2 points on 45.9% shooting. He is also chipping in 4.7 rebounds, three assists, and one steal per game.
Other contributors for the Boilermakers include Zach Edey (14.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 blocks), Trevion Williams (11.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, three assists), and Sasha Stefanovic (11.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists).
Take Purdue To Win Easily
There is no denying that Penn State has a solid defense, which is what gave Ohio State trouble in their loss on Wednesday. The problem for the Nittany Lions, though, is that Purdue’s offense is deeper, longer, and more elite than the Buckeyes.
While Purdue was not playing its best basketball to end the regular season, this is still a team built to have success in the postseason, and that will be on full display Friday night.
Expect Purdue to not only win, but they should win this one relatively easily as well.
