The Big Ten Tournament will continue on Friday as the final eight teams will compete for a spot in the semifinals. In the first quarterfinal matchup, it will be the Michigan State Spartans taking on the Purdue Boilermakers.
Michigan State got past Minnesota in the opening round, and this team needs to continue to win games moving forward. The Spartans finished the regular season at just 18-13, but they are an extremely talented team.
Purdue finished the regular season with a record of 28-3, and they are going to be a number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers ended the regular season by picking up a win in five straight games.
The Purdue Boilermakers are 6.5 point betting favorites in this game, and the over/under line is set at 143.5 total points.
Michigan State Must Defend
If Michigan State is going to find a way to pull off this upset then they are going to have to be great on the defensive end of the floor. Michigan State allowed less than 66 points per game this season, but they are facing a tough challenge in this one.
The Spartans were not a good shooting team this season, but they do have some talented offensive players. Michigan State averaged just 73 points per game, but they will have to score more than that in this one.
Tyson Walker is one of the best players in the conference, and he will need to at least hit his scoring average of 18 points per game. Michigan State will need to make some shots if Purdue takes Walker out of the game.
Purdue Can Be Explosive
The Purdue Boilermakers are scoring 84 points per game this season, and they are able to put points on the board in a number of different ways. Purdue will set the tone in the paint, but there are shooters on this team as well.
Zach Edey is having a huge season for Purdue as he is scoring 24.2 points and also grabbing 11.7 rebounds per game. Point guard Braden Smith is one of the best in the country as he is dishing out 7.2 assists per game.
Not only can the Boilermakers score, but this team is also allowing just 70 points per game. There just aren’t many things that Purdue doesn’t do extremely well this season.
Boilermakers Blow Out the Spartans
Michigan State is coming into this game with some momentum, but that’s not going to help them out much in this one. The Spartans are massively undersized in this game, and dealing with Zach Edey isn’t going to go well.
Purdue doesn’t need to win the Big Ten Conference Tournament, but it’s going to be hard for a team to stop them. The Boilermakers are great on the offensive end of the floor, and they can also get some stops.
Bet on the Purdue Boilermakers at -6.5 as they are going to roll to a blowout win in their first game at the Big Ten Tournament.
