Purdue Boilermakers at Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Preview

The Purdue Boilermakers (15-14, 8-10 Big Ten) travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, for a Big Ten battle with the Iowa Hawkeyes (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) on Tuesday night.
Iowa enters this matchup as the 18th-ranked team in the nation, while unranked Purdue finds itself firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Must Win?
As noted, Purdue has not definitively stamped their ticket to the Big Dance yet, so beating Iowa (again) would go a long way in helping their chances. They enter this clash as a five-point underdog, despite walloping the Hawkeyes by 36 in the first meeting on Feb. 5.
The Big Ten is loaded this year, however, which means the Boilermakers will have more opportunities to impress the selection committee come conference tournament time. It’s likely that eight teams are guaranteed an invite on Selection Sunday, but we could see as many as 11 get in.
Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers are the three schools that need things to fall their way.
Home Sweet Home
The home/road splits in college basketball have been extremely noteworthy this season, perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the Big Ten. Every school in the conference, except for Northwestern and Nebraska, have winning percentages greater than 66% when playing on their home floor.
Iowa is 14-1 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, one of four Big Ten teams with only one loss at home. And incidentally, that came all the way back on Nov. 11 against DePaul. Since then, they have reeled off 13 straight home wins, the last two of which came against ranked opponents, Ohio State and Penn State.
Not only that, but Iowa has been a cover machine this season, especially at home. The Hawkeyes are 18-8-3 ATS overall, and an eye-popping 11-2-2 ATS at home. Conversely, Purdue is 12-15-2 ATS overall and an underwhelming 2-7-2 ATS on the road.
It is worth reiterating, however, that Purdue (11-4 at home themselves this season) blew the doors off the Hawkeyes in the previous meeting a little less than a month ago in West Lafayette. Evan Boudreaux poured in a season-high 18 points to lead five Boilermakers in double figures.
The 104 points were also a team high for the season. The Big Ten’s leading scorer and national player of the year candidate, Luka Garza, scored a game-high 26 for Iowa that night and has scored at least 20 points in 14 straight, dating back to Jan. 10.
Free Betting Pick
When in doubt, take the home team in the Big Ten. We’ve addressed Iowa’s impressive record SU and ATS on their home floor already. And now you can add in the revenge factor after Purdue embarrassed them the first time around.
Purdue is the more desperate team, and that does mean something, but Iowa is virtually unbeatable at home. Iowa covers the five-point spread with plenty of room to spare.