McNeese Cowboys vs Purdue Boilermakers Prediction, 3/22/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: McNeese Cowboys vs Purdue Boilermakers

Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025

Location: Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Purdue (-5)

The McNeese Cowboys (28-6) are hitting the road to Amica Mutual Pavilion on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Purdue Boilermakers (23-11) in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Purdue opens as 5-point favorites. The over/under is 143.

The McNeese Cowboys took the court against Clemson and notched a win by a score of 69-67 in their last contest. With respect to personal fouls, the Cowboys ended up finishing with 19 and Clemson racked up 16 personal fouls. They also converted 9 of their 30 attempts from 3-point land. Clemson finished the contest at 84.2% at the charity stripe by converting 16 of 19 shots. Additionally, Clemson had 34 rebounds (12 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Clemson dished out 9 assists and had 5 steals in the game. With respect to defense, McNeese allowed their opponent to shoot 36.8% from the field on 21 out of 57 shooting. They also distributed 12 assists for this contest while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When discussing hauling in boards, they earned a total of 38 with 16 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Cowboys made 11 of 22 attempts for a rate of 50.0%. McNeese finished the game having earned a 43.5% field goal percentage (27 out of 62) and knocked down 4 out of their 19 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Brandon Murray is a guy who was a major contributor for the contest. He shot 55.6% from the floor and also distributed 3 assists. He saw the court for 29 mins and pulled down 4 rebounds. He left the arena with 21 points on 10 out of 18 shooting.

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McNeese heads into this contest with a record of 28-6 so far this year. They currently have an average of 77.0 pts per contest (93rd in Division 1) while hitting 47.8% from the floor. The Cowboys are hitting 35.5% on three-point attempts (256 of 721) and 70.3% from the charity stripe. As a unit, McNeese is pulling in 36.4 rebounds per game and is sitting with 477 dimes so far this year, which is 112th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 10.8 times per contest and as a group they are committing 16.2 fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Cowboys have forced 14.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.9 fouls. They are currently ranked 117th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 410 surrendered for the campaign. The Cowboys defensively are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 40.1% (749 of 1,867) and they surrender 32.6 boards per game as a squad. They concede 32.0% on 3-point attempts and they rank 15th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (64.1).

In their last game, the Purdue Boilermakers got the win with a final of 75-63 against High Point. The Boilermakers were able to pull down 22 defensive boards and 17 offensive rebounds totaling 39 in the game. They gave up possession 7 times, while earning 4 steals in the matchup. High Point committed 20 personal fouls for this contest which took the Boilermakers to the charity stripe for a total of 22 shots. They were able to convert 14 of them for a percentage of 63.6%. When talking about shots from beyond the perimeter, Purdue knocked down 5 out of their 15 attempts (33.3%). Overall, the Boilermakers finished shooting 28 for 61 from the field which had them at 45.9%. The Boilermakers permitted High Point to convert 23 out of 53 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 43.4% for the game. They wrapped up this game 35.7% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 10 of 28 and ended up shooting 7 out of 11 at the free throw line (63.6%). In the matter of rebounding, Purdue allowed High Point to pull down 20 in all (5 on the offensive glass).

Trey Kaufman-Renn was important for the Boilermakers in the matchup. He accumulated 21 points in his 29 minutes on the court, but wrapped up this contest with no dimes. He knocked down 10 of 16 for the contest giving him a rate of 62.5%, and had 8 rebounds.

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Purdue has a win-loss mark of 23-11 this season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Boilermakers are connecting on 48.9% from the floor, which is 15th in college. Purdue has scored 2,645 points for the campaign (77.8 per contest) and they pull in 32.7 boards per contest. They are assisting teammates 15.8 times per contest (50th in college) and they cough up possession 10.3 times per contest. The Boilermakers commit 16.0 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 72.7% from the charity stripe.

The Boilermakers on the defensive side of the court are 145th in Division 1 in points allowed per contest with 70.9. They are forcing 11.8 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 45.4% from the floor (271st in Division 1). The Purdue defense concedes 30.9% on 3-pointers (253 of 819) and opponents are making 72.5% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 14.8 dimes and 30.7 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 305th and 14th in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Purdue (-5)

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