There are a pair of games tonight in the Big Ten, with Purdue traveling to Alabama and Michigan State set to host San Jose State.
#2 Purdue Boilermakers at #8 Alabama Crimson Tide
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Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET ESPN2
In the main game of the night Purdue heads south to Alabama in a top ten showdown. Somehow a college basketball game between two top ten teams was relegated to ESPN2, with ESPN set to air a college football game between Troy and Old Dominion. Both teams enter at 2-0, with Alabama coming off of a 7 point win at St. Johns and Purdue slowly getting past Oakland last week.
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In Alabama’s win over then fifth ranked St. John’s they limited turnovers to just 7 and shot 48.1% from the field, even though they only hit 31.4% from the line. They did put St. John’s on the line for 40 free throw attempts, but St. John’s only hit 28.
While Purdue didn’t look particularly great against Oakland, the team has been playing without their leading offensive scorer and second-best player in Trey Kaufman-Renn. With Kaufman-Renn set to return it will likely be a much different Purdue, especially with the rotation. It’ll be interesting to see how Kaufmann-Renn will fare at the four alongside Oscar Cluff, but it should help the Purdue offense considerably and will likely help clean up their issues on the glass. If Purdue could have limited offensive rebounds against Oakland they likely would have won in much more decisive fashion.
The one thing that remains to be seen is if Purdue can get consistent production from the edges of their rotation. So far there seems to be a similar level of hesitancy from C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris, while Omer Mayer has gotten off the a slow start. Jack Benter and Liam Murphy have actually been key pieces in the backcourt outside of some of the more notable options on the roster, both of which looking good from the perimeter.
If Purdue can get back to their offensive production from last year with the return of Kaufman-Renn they’re more than capable of landing a win tonight. If Kaufman-Renn is rusty or is on a minute restriction there’s a very good chance Alabama will pull off the win tonight.
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Pick: Purdue
San Jose State Spartans at #17 Michigan State Spartans
In the other game tonight Michigan State is set to host San Jose State. The Spartans enter at 2-0 after an 11 point win against Colgate and a three point win against 14th ranked Arkansas. Tonight’s game is sandwiched in between ranked matchups with Michigan State set to face Kentucky early next week.
Michigan State’s offensive numbers haven’t been pretty, shooting 41.3% from the field, 66.7% from the line and 20% from three. Of course that has seemingly been the case for State the last few years. The Spartans have cleaned up on the glass, with 19 offensive rebounds per game creating plenty of second chance opportunities.
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San Jose State is 0-2, losing by 9 to Utah and 11 to UC Santa Barbara. Colby Garland is averaging 25.5 points while shooting 66.7% from the field. The Spartans have struggled from the line (66.7%) and three (29.7). San Jose State has also struggled heavily defensively, especially on the perimeter, something that doesn’t bode well for tonight.
The Spartans need to get their offense shooting more efficiently from the field but they’re more than capable of winning tonight.
Pick: Michigan State
