1 Arizona vs 2 Purdue: Opening Odds
· Yahoo Sports
As exciting as it was for Trey Kaufman-Renn to make a tip in with less than 1 second remaining to secure a victory in the Sweet Sixteen over 11-seed Texas, the Purdue Boilermakers need to quickly shift their focus on their toughest opponent thusfar in the tournament, Arizona. The Wildcats are one of three overwhelming picks to win the the tournament this season alongside Duke and Michigan. Led by Tommy Lloyd, who finally broke through with his Arizona squad to the Elite Eight, this team is stacked. Freshman duo Koa Peat and Brayden Burries lead the Wildcats in scoring but Arizona has 7 different players averaging over 8.5 points per game. For a team that scores over 85 points per game, they don’t bury you with 3’s but rather an inside attack that seems to be unmatched in the nation. Of course, you only need to win once to make it to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
So Purdue will take on by far its best opponent of the tournament in what looks to be a marquee matchup. According to our friends over at FanDuel, Purdue opens as a 5.5-point underdog. It really goes to show that this Arizona squad is highly regarded as this is a 1-2 matchup. For Purdue fans, it may actually work to the Boilermakers advantage that Arizona has been winning by a wide margin thus far this tournament because they simply don’t have the late game experience that Purdue had just last night. Arizona beat Long Island by 34, took down Utah State by 12, and then dismantled Arkansas by 21, though the score doesn’t even reflect the dominance Arizona showed. The Purdue seniors, on the other hand, have experiences that frankly, no other players in the NCAA field have and it could be the difference between a win and a loss at the end of the game (see here). Altogether it should be a competitive game out west that will ultimately lead to a trip back to Indiana either way. Boiler Up!
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