The Purdue Boilermakers and the Houston Cougars are set to square off in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s BAsketball Tournament on Friday night. The Boilermakers finished the regular season with a 24-11 record and beat 13 seed High Point and 12 seed McNeese in the first two rounds of the tournament. The Cougars finished off the regular season 32-4 and took down the 16 seed SIU Edwardsville and 8 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs. They are currently 8.5 point favorites with this Purdue vs. Houston matchup set to tip off at 10:09 p.m. ET.
Game Matchup & Betting Odds
Purdue Boilermakers (+8.5) at Houston Cougars (-8.5) o/u 131.5
10:09 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 23, 2025
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
TV: TBS
Public Betting: Public Bettors Backing Houston
As of this writing, our CBB Public Betting page shows that 63% of bets are on Houston. That said, this page is updated frequently so make sure that you click on the link provided so that you’re getting the most updated information.
Purdue Boilermakers
The Boilermakers kicked off the tournament with a 75-63 victory over the 13 seed High Point Panthers. In the second round they played the 12 seed McNeese Cowboys and won 76-62. In that matchup, Trey Kaufman-Renn led the team with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Fletcher Loyer followed him up with 15 points on 4 of 12 shooting from the field. Purdue turned the ball over 19 times on the day, while forcing just 11.
Houston Cougars
The Cougars started the tournament with an easy 78-40 victory over the 16 seed SIU Edwardsville Cougars. The second round was a bit more of a battle as they defeated the 8 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs 81-76. L.J. Cryer led the team with 30 points including 6 of 11 from behind the arc. J’wan Roberts added 18 points on 9 of 18 shooting from the field. Joseph Tugler finished with a 10 point 11 rebound double-double. Houston forced 11 turnovers while only giving the ball away 7 times.
Purdue vs. Houston Betting Trends
Purdue is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games
The UNDER is 3-1 in Purdue’s last 4 games
Houston is 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games
The UNDER is 5-2 in Houston’s last 7 games
Purdue vs. Houston Prediction:
I’m going to ride with the Cougars in this matchup on Friday night. The Boilermakers finished the regular season in very poor form losing 5 of their last 7 games before getting bounced from the Big Ten tournament in the quarterfinals after a 86-68 loss to Michigan. They managed to take down High Point by 12 points and McNeese by 14 but I don’t find either of those victories to be impressive, especially with Purdue turning the ball over 19 times to McNeese. Now they must play the 1 seed in the Houston Cougars. Houston is the top ranked defense in the nation. On top of that, they are the best 3 point shooting team in the nation. They haven’t lost the spread in their last 4 games and I don’t think they will on Friday night. They are the better team and will prove it.
Purdue vs. Houston Prediction: Houston -8.5