Total Play For Top 10 Matchup

Illinois vs. Purdue, 8:30 ET

There are only a few things that I don't like about sports betting, and most of them have to do with regulatory things. For example, in this game, I need to use one of my offshore accounts to bet on it. Why is that a big deal? It means that I don't always get the best number. Not the end of the world, but it just is illogical that you can't bet on Illinois college games if you live in Illinois. Oh well, no matter how we get down with this game, there has to be some excitement as Illinois takes on Purdue.

Illinois comes into this game as the ninth-ranked team in the country. With an 11-2 record, I am not shocked that they are finally getting some respect. Their two losses this season came at the hands of #4 Marquette (on Illinois home court) and Tennessee. Neither of them was that bad of a loss and both saw them lose by exactly seven points. This Illinois team played pretty quick-paced basketball which should make the Purdue team struggle to guard them. For as good as Zach Edey is, he isn't someone that you can really count on to be fast. If the Illini get into transition and push the pace, Edey might not be back in time to guard the rim the way he needs to. Illinois doesn't have a great backcourt, but they have effective enough shooters, and a deep team. They can legitimately play eight or nine guys a night that can potentially be the leading scorer. They have four guys averaging double figures and it should prove difficult for Purdue to contain all of them.

BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 18: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

While Purdue may struggle to guard the offensive firepower of Illinois, I also think it could be difficult for Illinois to guard Purdue in the half-court sets. They don't really have anyone that matches up well with Edey. That's fairly normal - most teams don't have someone that can stop him. I would think that Illinois should be able to defend some of the Purdue players better than other teams though. Currently, Purdue has three guards averaging double figures and two of them are shooting roughly 40% or better from three. When defenses collapse on Edey, which they have to do, he can kick the ball out to a shooter. Illinois has almost no choice but to implement that strategy in this game and the outside shooters of Purdue should have a lot of open shots, or minimally contested ones.

I like the over in this game. I think both teams will be able to implement their offensive goals in the game with minimal resistance. For example, I think Edey will do his typical work down low, and I think Illinois should be able to score on their end pretty easily if they get into transition. I'm going to back the over in this one.

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