Purdue vs. Iowa College Basketball prediction, preview
Purdue is off an epic road win on Tuesday night at Nebraska, improving to 2-0 when priced as the underdog this season. The Boilermakers played their best half of basketball this season in the opening frame, taking a 40-24 lead into halftime. Then things came undone, and Purdue gave up a massive late run that put the game into overtime. The Boilermakers recovered, though, escaping with a three-point victory.
That all sets up a tough spot to go on the road again, playing in a tough environment in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa is 12-1 at home this season, and had been playing its best basketball of the season, prior to Wednesday night. Following a seven-point loss at Purdue last month (Iowa covered +10.5), the Hawkeyes ripped off a six-game winning streak, including as a road underdog at Indiana. But that winning streak was snapped on Wednesday against one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, falling as a double digit favorite at Maryland.
Now Iowa looks to rebound on its home court, against a Purdue team it was competitive against on the road when these teams last met. Prior to the Boilermakers’ three-game winning streak they are currently on, they had lost three in a row, all priced as the favorite. While they’re coming off arguably the best win off the season, Purdue hadn’t been playing all that well lately — just 1-8 ATS in the nine games prior to upsetting Nebraska.
Purdue has a clear size and rebounding advantage in the game, but this one should be played at a slow pace and allow Iowa to get some good looks from downtown. While a difficult matchup for the Hawkeyes, I think they catch the Boilermakers in a down spot here and can come out aggressive off a bad loss with a chance to pull the minor upset.
