Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Purdue Boilermakers Preview
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse — Indianapolis, Indiana
When: Saturday, December 17, 2:00 PM ET
Line: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (TBA) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (TBA) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN2
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Betting on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
No. 21 Notre Dame is undefeated no more, losing to first-ranked Villanova last weekend—a game in which the Fighting Irish were held to a season-low 66 points.
The loss drops them to 9-1 on the season, and they’ll be looking to bounce back from it with a win over No. 15 Purdue in the Crossroads Classic. Notre Dame has a 3-2 record in this event, including two wins over the Boilermakers in 2012 and 2014.
Well, yes, the Fighting Irish are coming off a loss here but that should only fuel them further to redeem themselves. Coach Mike Brey’s troops have thrived in bounce-back games, as his team’s only lost back-to-back games once since their 2013-14 campaign.
Expect Notre Dame to regain its offensive touch here and keep leaning on senior captain Steve Vasturia and Bonzie Colson, both of whom are leading the team in scoring with around 16 points per game each, for points.
Vasturia, by the way, has been on a tear lately, putting up 18.3 points with three assists in the last seven games.
Betting on the Purdue Boilermakers
No. 15 Purdue is 8-2 overall this season, with its two losses coming against Top-25 teams in No. 1 Villanova and then-No. 14 Louisville. Both games, though, were decided by only 10 points combined.
With that said, the Boilermakers should find themselves in, hopefully, another down-to-the-wire game with 21st-ranked Notre Dame, which has won the last three meetings in this matchup.
They’re led by sophomore power forward Caleb Swanigan (15.9 PPG) and junior center Isaac Haas (14.8 PPG). Swanigan has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season, while the latter has finished with 11 or more points in the last three games, including a 16-point, 7-rebound effort in the win against Arizona State nearly two weeks ago.
Purdue also heads into this game having won its last three games by at least 24 points.
Writer’s Prediction
Purdue prevails, 74-70.
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