Purdue vs Saint Peter’s | Prediction & Pick

Boilermakers look to strut their stuff against Peacocks

Hoping for a better showing in the big dance than they had in the Big Ten, the Purdue Boilermakers take on the Saint Peter’s Peacocks in a second round NCAA Tournament game on Friday in Chicago.

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#3 Purdue (25-7, 14-4 Big Ten) vs. #14 Saint Peter’s (20-13, 11-7 MAAC)

Date/Time: Friday, March 18, 7:20 PM ET
Venue: United Center in Chicago, IL.
Broadcast: TNT

Money Line: Purdue -1400, Saint Mary’s +800
Spread: Purdue -14
Over/Under: 119 ½

The Peacocks won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament for just third time in school history, and for the first time since 1995. They finished fourth in the MAAC during the regular season, but Saint Peter’s ran the table in the league tournament.

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Saint Peter’s, which is located in Jersey City, did defeat Long Island and tournament hopeful Alabama, and suffered quality losses to Old Dominion and Long Beach State. They are coached by John Dunne, currently in his fifth season with the Peacocks.

Purdue is back in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and 25th time overall. Matt Painter has continued the tradition of excellence set forth by Gene Keady for a quarter-century before him. Out-of-league victories against Oakland, Alabama, and Virginia Tech helped raise Purdue’s stock. Then the Boilermakers swept Penn State and Michigan State while also season-splits with Ohio State and Wisconsin.

The Boilermakers success this season is even more impressive considering they were missing arguably their best player Robbie Hummel, who injured his ACL before the season began. Picking up the slack in his absence were two Purdue players: JaJuan Johnson led the Big Ten in scoring at 20.5 points per game and finished fourth in rebounds in the league at 8.2 per contest; and E’Twaun Moore scored 18.2 points per game, fourth best in the league, and shot 41.1 percent from three-point range.

The Peacocks had four players average double-digits on the season in points: Wesley Jenkins (12.8 PPG), Jeron Belin (11.6 PPG), Nick Leon (10.6 PPG), and Ryan Bacon (10.0 PPG). Bacon also finished second in the MAAC in field goal percentage at 53.2 percent, and he finished fourth in rebounds 7.5 RPG).

The odds makers have the Purdue Boilermakers as a -14 point favorite with an over/under of 119.5.

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Prediction: Purdue is just too athletic for Saint Peter’s to be able to keep up with for 40 minutes, and we feel the Boilermakers will advance to the third round.

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Purdue Boilermakers Betting Trends:

• Purdue is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Purdue’s last 5 games