IllinoisIllinois vs. PurduePurdue Pick Center

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ML SPREAD TOTAL
IllinoisIllinois 56
+660
+12.5
(-102)
O 148
(-105)
PurduePurdue 73
-840
-12.5
(-108)
U 148
(-105)
NCAABNCAAB
FINAL (2/27/2019)
Feb 26, 2019No. 14 Purdue has struggled putting the ball in the basket recently, but it hasn't had issues putting games into the win column.The Boilermakers' ability to rely on their defense when needed has kept them in the hunt for the Big Ten regular-season crown. Purdue (20-7, 13-3) can rejoin Michigan State atop the league standings with a win over Illinois (10-17, 6-10) on Wednesday night in West Lafayette, Ind.Purdue, known primarily for its offensive efficiency this season, seeks its 12th win in 13 games overall and its 18th win in a row at Mackey Arena."Obviously, our defense has gotten better," Purdue head coach Matt Painter told reporters after his team's 75-72 win Saturday at Nebraska. "It's not like we've arrived defensively, (that) we're a great defensive team. We're just a lot better than we used to be." Since the calendar flipped to February, Purdue has harassed its opponents into 39.4 percent shooting from the floor and 23.3 percent from 3-point range. Before February arrived, the Boilers' field-goal defense numbers stood at 43.5 percent overall and 37.1 percent from deep.Meanwhile, Illinois comes to town seeking to regain the edge that found head coach Brad Underwood's group winning its first four games in February before falling last week at Wisconsin and versus Penn State before a home sellout.Illinois faded down the stretch in the loss to the Badgers and then didn't show up until it was too late against the last-place Nittany Lions. That inconsistency shouldn't be surprising in a team that features two freshmen and a sophomore as its leading scorers."This is a great example of what happens in Big Ten basketball when you show up flat and not ready to play," Underwood told reporters after Saturday's 83-76 loss to Penn State. "Nothing against Penn State, but we were really flat." Sophomore guard Trent Frazier (14.3 points per game), freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu (14.3) and freshman center Giorgi Bezhanishvili (12.3) lead an Illini squad that has spent 63 percent of this year's minutes on their five freshmen and two sophomores.Throw in the fact that junior-college guard Andres Feliz and graduate transfer center Adonis De La Rosa joined the program this year, and there aren't many active Illini who remember how Purdue junior guard Carsen Edwards stuck them for 40 points the last time they met, on Feb. 22 in Champaign last season.Edwards equaled that 40-spot on Dec. 9 in a loss to Texas, which has helped keep him among the nation's top 10 scorers at 23.4 points per game. However, he enters Wednesday's game coming off his two worst shooting performances of the year.On Feb. 19 at Indiana, Edwards went 4 of 24 from the field and whiffed on all 10 of his 3-pointers. On Saturday at Nebraska, he finished 3 of 16 overall and 1 of 10 from long range.--Field Level Media

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