To many, a Purdue vs UConn National Championship game has seemed destined since the start of March Madness.
Purdue has won 20 of its last 22 games, and has had an average margin of victory of 19.6 points in the NCAA Tournament.
UConn has won 26 of its last 27 games , and has had an average margin of victory of 27 points in the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies are a 7.5-point favorite over Purdue, with a total sitting at 145 points. Here is a look at the current odds for the Chamionship Game:
| Team | Spread | Money | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue | +7.5 | +250 | O 145.5 |
| UConn | -7.5 | -285 | U 144.5 |
If one thing is certain, Dan Hurley will come out swinging with extreme pace and an aggressive defensive scheme early to throw Purdue off. After PG Braden Smith was forced into two backcourt violations and five turnovers against NC State, we expect Hurley to have noticed and applied some pressure that Purdue will struggle to combat early in this game.
Outside of the Huskies’ first game against Stetson, they’ve outscored their four other opponents by a combined 40 points in the first half, stretching from a 22-point lead against Northwestern to a 4-point lead against Alabama.
The last time UConn was down at halftime in the NCAA tournament? Try Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels in the Round of 64 last season!
If Newton and the Huskies want to lift back-to-back titles tonight, the playmaking scorer has to find his outside shooters and Clingan down low early and often. With Purdue’s defense shaky against playmaking guards that can score the rock (DJ Horne, Boo Buie, Caleb Love) we expect Newton to have himself a night as a double-double threat and MOP frontrunner.
Tristen has hit the 6-assist mark in three of Uconn’s five tournament games and was benched later in the 2nd half in his two misses due to massive leads. Hitting this over in seven of eleven tourney games dating back to last season, trust Newton’s playmaking skills to take over in a nightmare matchup for Purdue’s smaller backcourt.
One player that should come alive for the Boilermakers is transfer guard Lance Jones. Jones has been a knockdown shooter for Purdue this postseason and put away the Wolfpack with four threes made two nights ago.
Set to play at least 30 minutes against Connecticut, look for the mid-range game to be wide open on Clingan’s drop coverage and the most experienced player on Purdue’s roster to shine through.
Gillis has only played 22 minutes per game in the tournament and with UConn looking to push the pace, we are expecting Gillis to struggle to make an impact on the offensive end, where Purdue’s guards should handle most of the scoring alongside Edey.
Gillis has reached this mark in three of five games this tournament but has only averaged 4.0 PPG this tournament which leaves some cause for concern. A player that might be used to foul Clingan while Edey plays more passively, we don’t expect Gillis to be a factor in this one.