Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds – Boilermakers will stop one-man Illinois show

You could do worse in the online betting world than to take a chance on Purdue, who doesn’t have as much flash as teams like Kansas and Kentucky, but they get the job done with hard-nosed play on both ends of the floor. The Boilermakers will welcome Illinois to town this weekend, and the Illini are dominated offensively by one player. Look for him to get a lot of attention from the Boilermakers on Saturday.

The Storyline: Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds
The Fighting Illini (17-9, 9-4) had a five-game winning streak snapped with a 72-53 loss at home to Ohio State, but Illinois is still in the thick of things in the Big Ten in what has been an up-and-down season. The No.4 Boilermakers (22-3, 10-3) edged Ohio State 60-57 on the road for their eighth victory in a row, and Purdue probably is in the driver’s seat in the conference now.

Offensive Matchups: Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds
Simply put, the Illini were awful against Ohio State, as no one reached double figures. The Illini offense centers around Demetri McCamey’s ability to score and dish, but he needs some help on this end of the floor. Mike Tisdale should be more of a force than he is in the post.
The trio of E’Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel is as talented as anyone in the country, and Purdue is a very efficient team that doesn’t waste many shots. However, it gets bare after these three, so hopefully, they can stay healthy. We saw what kind of trouble Purdue got in when Hummel got hurt last year. The Boilermakers are also a great free-throw shooting team.

Betting Edge: Purdue

Defensive Matchups: Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds
The Illini are generally a good perimeter-defending team, but they got destroyed from outside against Ohio State. They don’t gamble a lot, preferring to stay in front of their man, but maybe they should go for more steals since they have a big man like Tisdale in the middle. Tisdale is averaging 1.7 blocks per game.
The Boilermakers get a bit physical sometimes, which leads to foul trouble, but the Moore-Johnson-Hummel trio are also their best defensive players. They did a good job against Ohio State even though Evan Turner went off for 29 points. Turner is a Player of the Year favorite in your sportsbook, and the Boilermakers were disciplined enough to let him get his points, and shut down the rest of the team.

Betting Edge: Purdue

Coaching Matchup: Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds
Bruce Weber has had the Illini in the NCAA Tournament in five of his six years in Champaign, even finishing second to North Carolina in 2005. He’s on track to get the Illini to the big dance again, and he’s gotten his team to step up to big occasions. This will be Illinois’ fourth straight game against a ranked opponent, and Weber will have them ready.
Matt Painter has the Boilermakers in the top five, but they’re still considered darkhorses on the national stage. That’s just fine by Painter, who is definitely headed for his fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers are even excellent on the road with wins at Michigan State and Ohio State this month.

Betting Edge: Draw

Betting Prediction: Illinois vs Purdue Betting Odds
The Boilermakers should be the favorites at home in this contest, as they are 12-1 at Mackey Arena this season. However, the Illini have won three of their last five in West Lafayette, including a four-point win back in 2008. The Boilermakers came away with an 84-78 win over the Illini on the road on January 19th, and Johnson had a huge game with 24 points and 12 boards, while McCamey had 28 for the Illini. These two will play big roles again, and the Boilermakers will have a better gameplan to stop McCamey’s one-man show. If you cut him off, you increase your chances of beating the Illini, while Purdue has more options if one of their attacking threats is taken away.

Washington’s Pick: Purdue

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