Northwestern Wildcats (15-18, 7-15 Big Ten) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (23-8, 13-7 Big Ten)
Chicago; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Boilermakers -11.5; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 18 Purdue plays in the Big Ten Tournament against Northwestern.
The Boilermakers are 13-7 against Big Ten opponents and 10-1 in non-conference play. Purdue ranks third in college basketball with 19.7 assists per game. Braden Smith leads the Boilermakers averaging 8.7.
The Wildcats’ record in Big Ten play is 7-15. Northwestern has a 9-8 record in games decided by 10 or more points.
Purdue averages 9.5 made 3-pointers per game, 2.0 more made shots than the 7.5 per game Northwestern gives up. Northwestern averages 6.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.5 fewer made shots on average than the 8.9 per game Purdue gives up.
The teams meet for the second time this season. Purdue won 70-66 in the last matchup on March 5. C.J. Cox led Purdue with 27 points, and Nick Martinelli led Northwestern with 28 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Fletcher Loyer averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Boilermakers, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 41.9% from beyond the arc. Smith is averaging 14.9 points, 8.7 assists and 1.8 steals over the past 10 games.
Martinelli is scoring 22.9 points per game with 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Wildcats. Jake West is averaging 9.4 points and 1.0 rebound while shooting 46.6% over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Boilermakers: 6-4, averaging 80.3 points, 31.7 rebounds, 18.8 assists, 5.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points per game.
Wildcats: 5-5, averaging 68.9 points, 22.8 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.9 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
