Nebraska vs. Purdue prediction and odds for Friday, January 13th (Boilermakers roll)

Purdue continues on its path as the best team in the Big Ten and a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a home matchup against Nebraska.

These two met in December in Lincoln, a thrilling overtime matchup that Purdue escaped with a win, 65-62. At the time, Purdue remained unbeaten around National Player of the Year favorite Zach Edey, and not much has changed outside of the team’s one loss to Rutgers. The two meet once again in West Lafayette on Friday night as the Boilermakers hope to come through on their expectation to blow out Nebraska.

Will the Cornhuskers continue to be a thorn in the top Big Ten team’s side? First, let’s check out the odds:

Nebraska vs. Purdue odds, spread and total

Nebraska vs. Purdue prediction and pick

I struggle to see Nebraska keeping up in this one as the team got a poor shooting night from Purdue on the perimeter and they are down one of their key front court players in Juwan Gary, who exited the Cornhuskers last game against Illinois.

Gary helped keep a lid on Edey in Lincoln, only seven shot attempts and five turnovers (he did have seven blocks), so that’s a massive loss heading into this one. As well, the Boilermakers should shoot better from the perimeter in the friendly confines of Mackey Arena. The team shot 24% from three in that game against a packed in Nebraska group that allows the 302nd lowest three-point rate in the country.

While the Boilermakers are a below average three-point shooting team on the season, just 32% on the year, we saw what they can do against a compact defense that attempts to shut down Edey against Penn State over the weekend. The Nittany Lions didn’t have an answer inside for Edey (30 points and seven rebounds) and allowed Purdue to hit eight of their 18 three-point tries.

I see a similar outcome for this Nebraska team on the road, who has struggled against quality teams on the road, losing at Indiana by 16 and Michigan State by 18.

The Purdue offense is No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric and Nebraska is down one of the few frontcourt players that can slow down Edey. This game can get sideways for the Cornhuskers quickly.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.