College basketball on Wednesday night and we will see the Purdue Boilermakers travel to Champaign, Illinois to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. The game has a start time of 9:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on the Big 10 Network. Vegas odds have the Fighting Illini listed as 6 point favorites, while the total sits at 135.5.
Analysis: Purdue comes in this game on a high note, after beating Nebraska 70-64, which had stopped a two-game losing streak. The Boilermakers improved to 11-5 overall and 9-1 at home with the victory and they are 1-1 in true road games this year. The Boilermakers come in as a decent offensive team, putting up 77.3 ppg while shooting 45% from the floor and 35% from beyond the arc. at he Defensive end of the floor, Purdue's yields 70.9 ppg while the team is in the black in both rebounding (+3.0) and turnovers (+1.5). The leaders of this team are Terone Johnson, a senior guard who's a 38.2% shooter from 3-point range, leads the team at 13.6 ppg and his younger brother Ronnie Johnson, who averages 11.4 ppg. A.J. Hammons averages 9.3 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds while recording more than half the team's blocks. Purdue owns a 96-85 lead in the long-standing relationship between these two teams, and the Boilermakers have won eight of the last nine meetings.
The Illini come in at 13-4 on the year and 2-2 in conference play. They were at one time a ranked team but losses to Wisconsin (95-70) and Northwestern (49-43) took care of that. The Illini are 9-0 at home this season, so there is certainly reason to think they may be able to get back on track here. The Illini's best player, junior guard Rayvonte Rice, is listed as day-to-day with an adductor strain. Rice is one of 3 players that average double digits on the club, putting up 18.1 ppg, while Tracy Abrams knocks in 12.6 ppg and Joseph Bertrand enters averaging 11.0 ppg. Overall the Illini average 70.4 ppg, while the allow 62.8 ppg, plus they have a +4.2 rebounding margin, and are +2.0 in turnover margin.
Pick: I like the Under in this one. Both teams dont really push tempo and both teams have played solid defense this year. Purdue comes in allowing 70.9 ppg on 41.4% shooting for the year, while the Illini come in allowing just 62.8 pg on 40.4% shooting overalll and 60.0 ppg on 36.7% shooting on their home floor. Purdue has played in 2 true road games this year and while the averaged 76 ppg in those two games they still shot just 40.7% in the two games. Overall this Purdue offense hasn't faced too many good defensive team, but they did vs Ohio state and grabbed just 69 points, while also putting up 69 vs a good Eastern Michigan defensive team in a slow down game that should be similar to this one. On offense the Illini are a grind it out team that works the ball and looks for the good shot. They average just 70.4 ppg on 42% shooting overall and are poor from long range (31%). The Over is 11-3 the last 14 in the series, but the last 3 between these teams have failed to eclipse 129 points and i don't see this one putting up more than 129 either.
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College Basketball Free Picks: Purdue at Illinois Betting
What college Basketball bettors need to know about Purdue Boilermakers at Illinois Fighting Illini on Wednesday (1/15/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Steve Fezzik with Brady Kannon.