Today the Purdue Boilermakers will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament . The game has a start time of 7:10 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Current Vegas betting odds have the Bearcats listed as 2 point favorites, while the total is set at 117.5.
Analysis: The Purdue Boilermakers have had a solid year as they went 21-10 and finished in tie for 4th in the Big 10 conference with a 12-6 record. Purdue won their opening game of the Big 10 Tournament, but then were knocked out by Wisconsin in a 20 point loss. The Boilermakers ave been in 27 NCAA Tournaments, with two trips to the Final Four, but they have not won it all yet. Purdue has gone 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, but just 4-11 ATS in their last 15 neutral site games. Purdue has been a decent offensive team this year, ranking 100th in scoring (70.0 ppg), 84th in shooting (45.3%), 212th in 3 point shooting (33.5%) and 204th in FT shooting (68.5%). The defense for this team has been decent as well, ranking 125th in points allowed (64.5 ppg), 52nd in defensive FG% (40.1%) and 225th in 3 point defense (35.0%).
The Cincinnati Bearcats had won 5 games in a row before suffering a 57-54 loss to the UConn Huskies in the Quarterfinals of the AAC Tournament. Still the Bearcats have had a solid year, going 22-10, while grabbing a #8 seed in the Big Dance. Cincinnati has been to 29 NCAA Tournaments, with 6 trips to the Final Four and 2 National Titles. Cincy has gone 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall, but just 4-9 ATS in their last 13 NCAA Tournament games. The Bearcats have been a very poor offensive team, as they come in ranked 294th in scoring (62.4 ppg), 85th in shooting (45.3%), 215th in 3 point shooting (33.3%) and 244th in FT shooting (67.4%). Defensively the Bearcats have been very good this year, ranking 6th in points allowed (55.3 ppg), 22nd in defensive FG% (39.0%) and 105th in 3 point defense (32.9%).
Pick: This is the first total that jumped out at me and I do expect it to drop by game time. The Bearcats have not played at a high tempo all year and Purdue hasn't really either. The Bearcats are an offensively challenged team that slows the game down and really relies on their defense to win games and they do play excellent defense this year as the are ranked 6th in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 55.3 ppg on just 39% shooting, which is 22nd in the Nation. Purdue has struggled to score down the stretch as they averaged just 61 ppg in their last 5 games and with the Extra time off they could be even rustier for this game. Cincinnati has not been a good offensive team all year, scoring just 62.4 ppg overall and 58.4 ppg away from home. They will take on a Purdue team that has allowed 64.5 ppg on the year, but on just 40.1% shooting. Neither team is good from long range or the charity stripe, so don't expect allot of points from those two areas on the court. The Under is 5-1 in Purdue's last 6 NCAA Tournament games, 23-9 in Cincinnati's last 32 Neutral site games and 39-12 in their last 51 non-conference games. This really should should be a slow paced game with much more defense than offense, giving us a game of around 110 points.
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for CBB Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
Handicapping Tips: NCAA Tournament Round 1
Steve Fezzik and Teddy Covers from Pregame.com give some insight and tips on handicapping the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.