Basketball Preview: Purdue at Wisconsin - March 3rd - 1:00 pm - ESPN

The Boilers get their last chance to show the nation what they've got on Sunday in the last nationally televised game of the regular season for Purdue.  I think if they win by 150, they might be able to sway the committee...

Not if Bo has anything to say about it...

Why Purdue Will Win
Much like the Iowa and Northwestern games, Purdue has a chance in this one because their opponent doesn't often score in the 70's.  Wisconsin may be 11-4 in the Big Ten, yet they've played 5 games in which they've scored less than 50 points in regulation (they actually won 2 of them!).  If Wisconsin has another one of those games where their shots aren't falling (one of them even came against Nebraska), the Boilers can definitely hang with them.  I'm not sure Purdue can score 50 on the Badgers, but that still doesn't mean they can't win.

Why Wisconsin Will Win
Wisconsin is a typical Badger team in that their defense is where everything starts.  They've held their last 4 opponents to under 50 points in regulation and Purdue's shown nothing to expect them to change that trend on Sunday.  Meanwhile, the offense seems to be finally clicking and it's not just the starters pulling it off.  Freshman Sam Dekker has come off the bench and scored double digits in each of his last 5 games. If Purdue needs to keep this game under 50, they can't afford to give up double digits to anybody, let alone a guy off the bench.   

One thing you absolutely need to know before the game
Kirk mentioned it in his Power Rankings, but one of the things I'm most looking forward to about watching Sunday's game is watching Ryan Evans take jump shot free throws.  Unfortunately, he's listed as questionable with a knee injury suffered in practice.  It doesn't say how he hurt it, but there's a legitimate chance he's the first person in basketball history to injure his leg while shooting free throws.

Our Picks - We like to think we're better than Vegas. So throughout the season, we'll be "betting" a whole dollar amount versus the spread between $1 and $32, but we can't repeat the same value twice. The spread for this game is Wisconsin by 14.5.


Erik's Bet: $20
Erik's Pick: Wisconsin 52 - Purdue 39

Kirk's Bet: $2
Kirk's Pick: Wisconsin 68 - Purdue 53

Standings:
Erik +263 (21-9 Against The Spread)
Kirk -135 (13-17 Against The Spread)

Values already bet
Erik 1-18, 20-32
Kirk 2-32

Boiler Up!

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