No. 6 Purdue Eyeing Sweep of Iowa
Boilermakers Seek Sixth Win in Last Seven Meetings
Purdue has enjoyed success against Iowa in recent years, including winning five of the last six meetings. That includes a seven-point home win on Dec. 3 in a game when Iowa’s top scorer, Keegan Murray, sat out with an ankle injury.
The Boilermakers have won two of the last three games in the series played at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 11-1 at home.
The Hawkeyes are just 2-3 in games decided by less than 10 points while Purdue is 5-3 in those contests.
Purdue (+275) came into the season as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten and among the top contenders for the national title. Iowa (+5000) had the ninth-best odds to win the Big Ten championship and currently is in ninth place.
Game: Purdue (16-3) at Iowa (14-5)
Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
Day/Time: Thursday, 9 p.m. ET
Television: FSI
Purdue Continues to Light It Up
There have been some high-scoring affairs around the country in recent days, weeks and months, but when it comes to putting up points at a fast and furious pace, it is hard to top what the Purdue Boilermakers have done.
Purdue has scored at least 90 points nine times, the most among major-college men’s programs this season. Not all of the impressive point totals came during the non-conference portion of the schedule. Three of those performances have come in the last eight games, including back-to-back Big Ten contests with 92 points against Nebraska and 96 in an overtime win against nationally ranked Illinois.
Purdue has four players averaging more than 12 points, led by Jaden Ivey’s 16.7 points per game. Ivey had 19 points in the first meeting against Iowa and is also contributing 19 points in seven road games. It doesn’t hurt that four of the 10 Purdue players who are on the court for at least 10 minutes per game are shooting over 50 percent from the field. the Boilermakers’ top 10 players have combined to miss just seven games.
It isn’t only about the starters. Purdue’s bench has scored at least 25 points in 16 of 19 games and has outscored the other team’s reserves by an average of 13.7 points. In the Boilermakers’ most recent loss, Indiana’s reserves outscored Purdue’s 35-4.
Purdue’s seven victories by 25 or more points trails only Gonzaga and Kentucky for the most among Division I men’s programs this year. The blowout only goes one way, however. The Boilermakers are the only Division I men’s program not to suffer a double-digit loss since Feb. 1, 2021.
Purdue has covered against the Las Vegas odds in just four of its last 12 games.
Iowa’s Murray Ready for Rematch
When Big Ten rivals Purdue and Iowa got together in early December, one pretty important piece of the Hawkeyes’ puzzle had to watch from the sidelines.
Murray, who spent much of this season leading the country in scoring, missed the game due to injury.
The Hawkeyes put up a pretty good fight without the player leading Iowa in minutes played, points and rebounds.
Purdue was leading by 19 points in the second half before Iowa came back to pull within two points with 3:08 to play thanks to an 11-0 run. Kris Murray, the brother of Keegan, had a key three-pointer in that stretch as he started in place of his brother.
Patrick McCaffrey led the way with 15 points, Kris Murray had 12 and Tony Perkins came off the bench to score 14 points.
Considering they didn’t have Keegan Murray last time and almost won, the Hawkeyes are optimistic entering tonight’s rematch with Purdue … now at home. Preview from @Dargan_Southard.https://t.co/fISX1Lj0aW
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) January 27, 2022
While Keegan Murray missed just one game due to his ankle injury, that game against Purdue put players in different roles offensively. That is something that could prove beneficial in the rematch.
McCaffrey is only averaging nine points over the last six games and Jordan Bohannon 10 points per game during that stretch. They may need to contribute more than that against a high-powered Purdue offense.
Keegan Murray is just 9 of 26 from the field in his last two games and his scoring pace has slowed since he averaged 29.2 points during a recent five-game stretch.
Iowa has covered against the college basketball spreads in 10 of its last 15 contests.
Purdue, Iowa Should Score Early and Often
Purdue and Iowa are the top two scoring teams in the Big Ten with the Boilermakers putting up 84.7 points per game and Iowa coming in at 83.1. They are also first and second in scoring margin so don’t look for some sort of defensive slugfest.
The total of 154 is only game on Thursday among the Power-5 conferences to be over 150, but with the individual talent on display, there’s no reason for those who bet online to worry about the Boilermakers and Hawkeyes being able to score points.
