How and what to watch for Indiana vs. No. 23 Purdue

The Indiana Hoosiers need to close out the season with a win if they want to keep their March Madness hopes afloat, but it won’t be easy as they head to West Lafayette to take on the No. 23 Purdue Boilermakers.

Indiana (12-13, 7-11 B1G) have had to run through a gauntlet of a conference schedule this season, which is the only reason they have any real Tournament hopes left. Their offense is underwhelming, scoring just 71 points per game on average. They’re led by Trayce Jackson-Davis, who’s scoring close to 20 points per game. Outside of Jackson-Davis, it’s not a whole lot to get excited about as no other player averages more than 11 points per game. Defensively the Hoosiers have been solid though, giving up just 68 points to their opponents per game. Though on their current four-game losing streak, they’ve allowed close to 73 each time out on the floor.

Purdue (17-8, 12-6 B1G) is trending in the opposite direction, having won four games in a row. The Boilermakers are just as underwhelming on the offensive end of the floor, but they’re even more stingy than IU. They’re scoring 71 per game, just like the Hoosiers, but they’re only allowing 65 points per game to opponents, which is ranked 19th in the nation by KenPom’s efficiency metric. Scoring-wise, they’re led by Trevion Williams, who is the only player on the team averaging more than 10 points per game. He’s scoring about 16 each time he’s on the floor.

KenPom is giving Purdue a 71% chance to finish the regular season off with a win.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Indiana vs. No. 23 Purdue on Saturday, March 6 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2. The game will air via live stream on ESPN+, a subscription service available as an add-on from ESPN even for non-subscribers.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Purdue -7
Point Total: 134.5
Money line: Indiana +255, Purdue -335

• The Hoosiers haven’t been able to cover recently, going 1-5 ATS in their last six
• The total has gone over in 10 of IU’s last 14 games
• The under has hit four of the last six times these two teams have played
• Purdue hasn’t failed to cover in a while, going 4-0-1 in their last five games

The Best Bet

Indiana is in desperation mode as they try to scratch and claw their way into the big dance. Expect them to push their in-state rival on Saturday as this one easily triggers the over.

Pick: Over 134.5

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