March Madness: Texas vs. Purdue Sweet 16 Odds, Predictions, and Picks — Best Bet on OVER Tonight

(AsiaGameHub) –   The No. 11 Texas Longhorns take on the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers in tonight’s first March Madness Sweet 16 matchup. The game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS.

Texas upset No. 3 Gonzaga, 74-68, to reach the Sweet 16. Purdue easily defeated Miami, 79-69. DraftKings has set Purdue as a 7.5-point favorite with a total of 147.5.

We’re looking at the total, with 63% of handle and 72% of tickets on the OVER at DraftKings at the time of writing.

Recommended Bet Texas vs. Purdue: OVER 147.5 (-112)

KenPom places the Boilermakers No. 1 in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency. Purdue is scoring an average of 91.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

The Boilermakers are also a top-10 team in three-point shooting. Purdue shoots 38.8 percent, eighth-best in the country.

While the Boilers excel at shooting the three, they’re poor at defending it, ranking No. 173 nationally in allowing opponents to shoot 33.9% from beyond the arc. Texas is even worse at No. 253, allowing 35.1%.

Expect Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer to have a big game tonight. The senior guard is shooting exceptionally well from three-point range. Loyer leads Purdue in 3P% at 43.3%. Here are his last five games shooting from behind the arc:

• 4 of 4 vs. Miami
• 4 of 8 vs. Queens
• 3 of 4 vs. Michigan
• 4 of 10 vs. UCLA
• 4 of 9 vs. Nebraska

Texas responds with guard Dailyn Swain (17.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg), who could be a difficult matchup for Purdue. Center Matas Vokietaitis (15.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg) can score effectively, and Texas also features double-digit scoring from Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope.

Selection: OVER 147.5

Top Player Prop for Purdue Boilermakers

Fletcher Loyer OVER 14.5 Points (+100 at FanDuel)

For all of the reasons mentioned above, expect Loyer to exceed this total tonight. He’s fresh off scoring 24 points against Miami.

Loyer shot perfectly from the free-throw line (8 of 8), three-point line (4 of 4), and missed just one of seven field goal attempts.

Jordan Pope OVER 13.5 Points (+100 at FanDuel)

The Longhorns have relied on Jordan Pope‘s scoring during March Madness. Swain, the team’s leading scorer, has been held to an average of 12.5 ppg in two tournament games.

Pope made three 3-pointers against both BYU and Gonzaga. Along with Vokietaitis, he tied for the team lead with 17 points in the win over the Zags.