The Gavitt Tipoff Games begin Monday with the Purdue Boilermakers hosting the Xavier Musketeers as both teams look to avenge being knocked out in the first week of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Xavier Musketeers vs Purdue Boilermakers (-18, 151.5)
The majority of last season’s Purdue team returns. That includes Wooden Award winner Zach Edey, who has led Purdue to a pair of victories by a combined 103 points against Samford and Morehead State.
A season ago, Purdue led the nation in rebound rate and in a two-game sample size appears to be another team that will be terrific on the glass, but will face a Xavier unit that will provide much more resistance than their first two opponents.
While Xavier is without their top six scorers from a season ago, they bring in transfers that have had success at the Division I level to support top returning scorer Desmond Claude, who has 37 points through two games this season.
The addition of North Texas transfer Abdou Ousmane also appears to have led to a tempo shift for Xavier as the team entered Sunday 152nd in the country in total possessions per game after having the 34th-most possessions per game in America last season.
The Musketeers have emphasized defense much more this season with so much of last season’s scoring gone, entering Sunday ranked 29th in the country in points allowed per possession and will look to cool down the Boilermakers from the outside.
Purdue is shooting 46.2% from 3-point range this season after that percentage was 32.2% last season, which ranked 277th in the country.
With Xavier holding opponents to making just 21.2% of their 3’s this season and the overall defense appearing very improved, Xavier will give Purdue their first true test of the season.
The Play: Xavier +18
