Purdue vs. Louisville Pick
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge continues tonight when No. 14 Louisville hosts No. 15 Purdue at 7:15PM ET.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Louisville is favored at home in this game, as the Cardinals are getting odds of -5.5 points against the Boilermakers. The over/under total is listed at 136.5 points. These two haven’t met since 2007, but Purdue has won and covered the spread in the last three meetings between these two.
Purdue is on a four-game win streak since losing 79-76 to Villanova back on Nov. 14. The Boilermakers are now 5-1 on the season and 2-2 against the spread. Purdue is putting up some big offensive numbers thus far in the season, averaging 84.8 points per game. Purdue is shooting 50.4 percent from the field. Big man Caleb Swanigan is leading the team with 18.8 points and 12 rebounds per game while Isaac Haas is adding 16.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. Defensively, Purdue is allowing just 67.2 points per game this season.
Louisville started the season 5-0 but is coming off a 66-63 loss to Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis last week. The Cardinals are 4-2 against the spread this season, but three covers have come against pretty light opponents. Louisville relies on defense mostly, as they hold opponents to 56.8 points per game while averaging 75 points per game on offense. They also have a strong averaging in rebounds (47 pg), blocks (7.2 pg) and steals (7.8 pg). Donovan Mitchell is leading the team with 13 points and 6.5 rebounds while game while Jaylen Johnson is adding 10.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
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Louisville isn’t a great offensive team and I think that is going to be the issue in this game. While the Cardinals are good on defense, I am not sure they can hold down this Purdue team. The Boilermakers have scored at least 76 points in all but one game this year and I think they put up a similar number today against Louisville.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: PURDUE +5.5