The No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers (15-1, 4-1 Big 10), one of the NCAA’s top scoring defenses, host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-7, 2-3 Big 10) on Friday.Nebraska narrowly defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 81-79 at Williams Arena on Saturday.
Derrick Walker was the standout player with 22 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. The Cornhuskers dropped to 11th in the Big Ten Conference.
Purdue found victory on Sunday at Palestra, beating the Penn State Nittany Lions 76-63. Zach Edey had 30 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks to lead the team. The Boilermakers remain first in the Big Ten Conference.
It’s the final meeting of the season between the teams. Purdue will be pursuing a season sweep against Nebraska after triumphing in the only prior game 65-62 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in December 2022, their third straight head-to-head victory.
Fletcher Loyer led the Boilermakers with 22 points, while Edey added 11 points, 17 rebounds, and seven blocks. Keisei Tominaga had 19 points in defeat.Sam Griesel (10.4 ppg), Walker (9.9), and Juwan Gary (9.9) are leading the Cornhuskers in scoring this season.
Gary also has grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game, while Griesel has dished 4.1 assists per game. Edey (20.5 ppg) has been the primary provider of the Boilermakers’ offense. Edey also has pulled down 12.4 rebounds per game, most in the country. Braden Smith has distributed 4.0 assists per game.
The Boilermakers rank as one of the toughest scoring defenses in the country, 26th-best with 61.5 points per game allowed.In the last 10 games, Nebraska is 6-4 with an average margin of +2.4 (68.7-66.3).
Purdue has gone 9-1 over the last 10, scoring 75.4 points per game on average while allowing 62.7 (+12.7 margin).
CORNHUSKERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Derrick Walker: 24.6 | 17.7 | +6.9
Blaise Keita: 0.6 | 6.1 | -5.5
Points per game:
Derrick Walker: 13.4 | 9.9 | +3.5
Keisei Tominaga: 5.8 | 9.7 | -3.9
Rebounds per game:
Derrick Walker: 7.4 | 5.6 | +1.8
Assists per game:
Emmanuel Bandoumel: 1.8 | 2.5 | -0.7
BOILERMAKERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Mason Gillis: 11.6 | 8.7 | +2.9
Rebounds per game:
Zach Edey: 9.0 | 12.4 | -3.4
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Purdue -14.5 (-110)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
