In the final matchup of the second night of Sweet 16 action, Houston will face Purdue to earn the right to play the winner of the Kentucky vs. Tennessee game in the Elite 8. Houston enters the day as the third-favorite to win the entire NCAA Tournament on DraftKings Sportsbook while Purdue has flown under the radar with only Ole Miss holding larger odds for cutting down the nets.
The Boilermakers capitalized on their clear path to this stage defeating High Point in the opening round and McNeese State in the round of 32. Houston will be a significant leap in talent and they will need to be ready for the challenge. Houston blew out SIU Edwardsville in the opening round but was pushed by Gonzaga in an 81-76 victory in their last game.
Houston enters tonight’s game as 8.5-point favorites and -455 on the Moneyline. Purdue holds +350 on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook with the game total set at 133.5.
Ahead of Friday’s showdown, here is my favorite Emanuel Sharp player prop bet to place on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Best Emanuel Sharp prop bet for Friday
Houston plays a defensive-minded brand of basketball holding opponents to just 58.4 points per game which is the best rate in the country. They also hold opponents to the fourth-worst field goal percentage, the sixth-fewest field goal attempts, and the 25th-worst three-point percentage. While the defense will continue to be their calling card, you cannot win without filling up the basket on the other end as well.
LJ Cryer is the team’s leading scorer at 15.6 points per game on the season. However, I like the outlook for Emanuel Sharp much better in this game. The junior guard is averaging 12.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in his third season playing under Kelvin Sampson. While he has taken a slight statistical step back this season, Sharp’s efficiency has improved with him shooting a career-high 43.2% from the floor and 42.3% from beyond the three-point arc.
Looking at the matchup, Purdue ranks 79th in the country in scoring and 134th in points allowed giving up 70.6 points per game. The days of counting on Zach Edey to patrol the paint are over and head coach Matt Painter deserves some credit for adjusting.
Even still, this will be a tough task against this Houston team. Expect the primary defensive focus to be on slowing down LJ Cryer with the former NCAA Champion at Baylor having a career season. Count on Emanuel Sharp being the beneficiary of this and be more than capable of picking up his scoring slack.
Sharp has had a slow start to the NCAA Tournament being limited to eight points in the opening round and 12 points against Gonzaga. He has shot a combined 6-for-15 from the floor in these games and 3-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc. While numbers do not lie, this has felt and example of Sharp taking the right shots and getting decent looks and things just not falling.
Look for this to change tonight as Houston takes their quality of play up a notch. Sharp has tallied as many as 26 points in a game this season and tallied 14+ points in 15 of the 33 games he has played. While he has fallen short in both NCAA Tournament games, the 6-foot-3 guard tallied 14+ points in all three conference tournament games beforehand.
Sharp will have an athletic advantage over either Braden Smith or Fletcher Loyer who will likely be his primary matchups. Look for him to take advantage of this and attack the basket against Purdue’s nonexistent rim protection. As a team, the Boilermakers rank 362nd out of 364 quality teams in blocks. They also rank 268th in opponents’ field goal percentage and are one of the 15 worst teams in opponents’ two-point percentage. The threat of his perimeter shot will help open things up and the guard is due for some positive shooting regression after some struggles to start the tournament. Count on Emanuel Sharp to answer to call for production in the Houston offense and record 14+ points for the 16th time this season.
Best Bet: Emanuel Sharp 14+ Points (+105)
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