The Crossroads Classic has been one of the hottest tickets in the Hoosier State since its inception and this year is no different. The Butler Bulldogs and the Purdue Boilermakers are two of the top teams in the country and their meeting on the basketball court has been highly anticipated for over a month. With both teams entering conference play in just a couple weeks, this is one final chance to pick up a nice non-conference victory.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, December 16, 2017, at 12 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The game will be televised live on FOX. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Butler is off to an 8-2 start and has picked up some nice wins lately. Although the Bulldogs have dropped games to both Maryland and Texas, they have also knocked off Ohio State and Utah and those wins could help come tournament time. Butler has covered in each of its last four games and has been performing pretty well on offense in that stretch.
The Boilermakers have won six straight since a somewhat disappointing performance at the Battle 4 Atlantis. In that six game stretch, Purdue has picked up wins against Arizona, Louisville, Maryland, and Northwestern. The team is now 10-2 and 7-4 ATS on the year and each of its last three games finished under the total.
Matchup to Watch
Although Butler is 8-2 and is allowing just 66 PPG, the Bulldogs do have a weakness that other teams can exploit.
Butler has had a hard time defending the three this year. The Bulldogs are allowing opponents to knock down 39.7 percent of their three-point attempts and that has really hurt this team. Maryland ended up knocking down nine threes when these two sides met earlier in the year and that was a big reason why Butler ended up with the loss.
The Boilermakers are one of the better perimeter shooting teams in the country. They are knocking down 39.4 percent of their threes this season and both Dakota Mathias and P.J. Thompson have been lights out from range. Both players are knocking down 49 percent of their three-point attempts and that has made this team tough to defend.
To make matters worse, the Bulldogs can’t shoot the three. Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin are both hitting under 30 percent from downtown and the team is missing Sean McDermott dearly. McDermott has missed the last two weeks and is expected to miss at least two more after suffering an ankle sprain. Additionally, Purdue is limiting opponents to just 31 percent from distance.
Player to Watch
Vince Edwards has been a four-year starter for Purdue and is the team’s main rebounder now that Caleb Swanigan is in the NBA. Edwards is pulling down 9.2 rebounds per game this season and that number is almost double his average of any previous year.
Unfortunately, the increased responsibilities in the paint seem to have brought down his shooting numbers. Edwards hit 48.6 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from downtown last season, but is just 43.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from downtown this year. It will be interesting to see whether or not that keeps up here.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Purdue should be favored in this one. The Boilermakers have played a tougher schedule and have been a more complete team to date. They have the ability to shoot from range and with Edwards and Isaac Haas, can play inside too. For Butler to pull off the upset, Martin will need to have a great game, but he is going to be flustered by this defense throughout the day.
College Basketball Odds: Purdue 70, Butler 63
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