The Purdue Boilermakers’ tough road stretch continues on Saturday when they journey to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers on the heels of a Tuesday night showdown against No.6 Michigan State.
Back-to-back losses against Western Kentucky and Minnesota have Wisconsin on the outside of the top-25 looking in, but the team used a lighter matchup against Penn State to get back in the win column and will try to stay there as they get set to host Purdue on Friday night.
Can the Boilermakers get the upset on the road against a struggling Wisconsin team or are the Badgers be able to get the win at home? Both teams could really use the win to help build their respective cases to get back into the AP Top-25.
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Purdue Boilermakers vs. Wisconsin Badgers
Date and Time: Friday, January 11, 2019, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Boilermakers vs. Badgers TV Coverage: FS1
Purdue will have less rest coming into Friday night than the Badgers as the Boilermakers take on Michigan State in what should be a tough battle on Tuesday night before journeying to Wisconsin. The Badgers, on the other hand, will be at home having last taken the court on Sunday evening in University Park, Pennsylvania against Penn State.
The Badgers beat Penn State in that game, 71-52, take advantage of one of the Big Ten’s weaker teams to improve to 3-1 in conference.
The conference loss, however, came in the game prior when Minnesota topped the Badgers 59-52. Wisconsin’s defense showed up to that game, but the offense was missing in action. Prior to that loss, Wisconsin was also defeated by Western Kentucky to wrap up the non-conference schedule.
All in all, it’s been a tough couple weeks for Wisconsin despite an overall solid start. This team just needs to get back on track. It’s a solid roster with plenty of depth. The group just needs rebound and may have done just that against the Nittany Lions.
In that game against Penn State, the Badgers showed their strong defense, holding the Nittany Lions to a 37.7-percent mark from the floor while giving up just four buckets from the perimeter all night. The team more than doubled up Penn State in takeaways with six blocks and nine steals.
Of those six blocks, five came from Nate Reuvers. The sophomore forward also scored 11 points while fellow forward Ethan Happ shot 10-for-24 for 22 points, adding eight rebounds.
Happ has played like a true All-American all year. He’s leading the team in scoring with 19.3 PPG and adds 10.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, and 1.3 BPG. Reuvers, meanwhile, isn’t as strong of a shooter, but can sink an occasionally outside shot and helps with the inside defense, adding 1.8 BPG. He’s usually not great on the glass, but did have seven rebounds against Penn State.
On the outside, D’Mitrik Trice is the leader with 14.3 PPG and a .465 shooting percentage from the outside. He’s struggled a bit shooting of late which has partially led to the team’s recent hiccups.
Despite that, Trice is still an elite player on the outside. Brad Davidson, meanwhile, is another player with double-digit PPG. He and Aleem Ford or additional outside threats to Trice.
Overall, this Wisconsin team is quite deep in talent, but it still leans heavily on Happ and Trice to lead the way.
As for Purdue, the Boilermakers are a better offensive team, at least by the numbers, than Wisconsin.
Going into Tuesday, the Boilermakers were scoring 79 PPG, five more than the Badgers though their shooting percentages both from the floor and on the outside are a bit lower.
For the Boilermakers, it all comes down to Carsen Edwards. The junior guard carries this team on his shoulders with 25.5 PPG along with solid rebounding from a 6’1” guard and good assist numbers as well.
Edwards has not scored fewer than 19 points in a game all year and he’s typically a very accurate shot though he has shot poorly in some games, but Purdue still goes to him as they need him to carry them to victory.
Aside from Edwards, Ryan Cline is the only other player in the double-digits in scoring. He’s got 12.6 PPG. He’s a taller and lanky guard who leads the team in assists with 3.6.
Basically this team is Edwards with a sprinkle of Cline. With them, the backcourt is strong, but inside Purdue is vulnerable.
At 7’3”, Matt Haarm has size, but he’s not controlling the paint as you’d expect from someone his height. He’s got just 4.7 RPG and 1.6 BPG. Grady Eifert is the team’s leader on the glass with 5.1 RPG.
Live Betting
Sometimes the AP and Coaches Polls and KenPom ratings agree on teams and other times, the adjusted efficiency margin captured by KenPom tells a different story than the rankings. That’s the case for both Purdue and Wisconsin.
Wisconsin sits at No.15 in adjusted efficiency margin with a very strong defense alongside a typically more than serviceable defense. The margin puts the Badgers at +21.21. Purdue sits two spots lower at +20.39, but is flipped with a strong offense ranked sixth and a lesser defense.
That defense will be worth watching. Wisconsin’s offense hasn’t exactly lit up the scoreboard over the last few games. Watch how the Badgers play early. If they’re shooting well, scoring early, this could be a nice bounce back game for Wisconsin.
Keep tabs of the latest odds and totals at BookMaker.eu where you can also take advantage of all the latest props and live betting opportunities as well.
Key Player
D’Mitrik Trice needs to get back to playing his typical elite level. He’s a huge threat on the outside when healthy and playing up to his ability. That helps spread the floor and open up lanes inside for Happ and Reuvers.
Trice is second on the team in scoring and the leader in the backcourt for Wisconsin, but he’s struggled over the Badgers’ last three games, at least by his standards. It’s no coincidence, Wisconsin is 1-2 in those three games.
Over the last three, Trice has 23 points while shooting 9-for-31 from the floor and 4-for-19 from three-point range. That’s a 29-percent clip from the floor and 21-percent mark on the outside. Those numbers aren’t going to cut it.
On the year, Trice is a much better shooter. Prior to the three-game struggle, he was putting up 15.9 PPG and shooting close to 50-percent from beyond the arc.
In the four losses by Wisconsin, the opposition has shutdown Trice, holding him to 33 points and a total of four buckets from the perimeter. He needs to do better than that on Saturday for Wisconsin to overcome Purdue at home.
Boilermakers vs. Badgers Live Betting
While Trice has been slowed a bit of late, Purdue doesn’t boast a particularly stout defense. Look for the sophomore guard to have a nice bounce-back game, getting into the double-digits in points and sinking a few shots from the outside. Ultimately Trice, Davidson and company should be able to at least battle outside against Edwards.
From there, look for Happ to get some open shots inside and for him and Reuvers to do their thing defensively inside the paint with Purdue mostly incapable of stopping them.
Purdue will score and Edwards should be able to almost single-handedly keep the Boilermakers in the game, but he can’t do it alone. In the end, this Purdue team has been great at home, but pretty beatable on the road. With this game in Wisconsin, look for the Badgers to inch out the win, giving Purdue yet another road loss.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Friday’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Wisconsin 76, Purdue 73
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