The Michigan State Spartans are in a tight race right now to the top in the Big Ten. They will have targets on their backs when they take on the Purdue Boilermakers this coming Sunday on the road, with the host team looking to score a signature win this season. Going into the game, NCAAB Futures price the Spartans at +1,200 to win the 2020 NCAA Championship, while their opponent is listed at just +8,000 to do the same. Read on for more about this intriguing matchup.
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Betting Preview for the Michigan State Spartans vs Purdue Boilermakers NCAA College Basketball Game on January 12 2020
Where: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette
When: Sunday, January 12, 2020, 12:00 PM ET
Line: Michigan State Spartans (Odds) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (Odds) – view all 2020 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Michigan State Spartans (12-3 Overall / 4-0 Conference)
The Spartans zoomed to their fourth-straight win in conference play last Sunday by smashing their bitter rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, in an 87-69 win in East Lansing. The Spartans shot incredibly well from the field, knocking down 28 of 53 shots (52.8 percent), including a 7-for-15 line from deep. Cassius Winston showed why he’s one of the best — if not the best — player in the nation these days, by scoring 32 points on an excellent 11-for-19 shooting to go with nine assists. Winston is the engine that makes the Spartans’ offense run. He leads the team with 18.9 points and 6.3 assists per contest, as of this writing. But to think that the Spartans are all about Winston is far from the truth. For one, the team also has Xavier Tillman, who is recording a near double-double of 13.9 points and 9.8 boards per outing. The Spartans are seventh in the nation with 81.7 points per game, with their offense predicated on moving the ball around, hence their 19.7 assists per game average — also tops in Division I ball.
The over is 2-0 in the Spartans’ last two road games.
Betting on the Purdue Boilermakers (9-6 Overall / 2-2 Conference)
It’s been an uneven season thus far for the Boilermakers. They have experienced some highs like upsetting the Virginia Cavaliers last December and some lows like when they lost to the Nebraska Cornhuskers also last month. The Boilermakers just recently lost to the Illinois Fighting Irish on the road, 63-37, in a game they obviously struggled to buy a basket. The Boilermakers were limited to a pathetic 15-of-60 shooting in the loss to Illinois. Scoring isn’t really a strength of Purdue, as it is only averaging 68.2 points per game, but it gets wins by choking its opponents’ offense, except that it didn’t work that way in the Illinois game. The Boilermakers are allowing just 59.1 points per game – 11th nationally – and play deliberately slow. Per KenPom, Purdue is 290th in the nation in tempo.
The Boilermakers are 5-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six games.
Writer’s Prediction
Michigan State wins, 70-64.
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