Purdue vs. Virginia Pick Center

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SPREAD

TOTAL

Purdue

+185

+4
(+100)

O 128
(-103)

Virginia

-225

-4
(-120)

U 128
(-117)

NCAAB

FINAL (3/30/2019)

Mar 29, 2019Virginia hasn't reached the Final Four since 1984 when its No. 7 seeded team made an unlikely dash through the bracket.Purdue's last appearance was in 1980 when a No. 6 seeded squad stunningly meandered its way to being one of the last four teams standing.A lengthy drought will end for one of the schools on Saturday when top-seeded Virginia (32-3) clashes with third-seeded Purdue (26-9) in the NCAA Tournament's South Region final at Louisville, Ky.The Cavaliers reached the Elite Eight by dispatching Oregon 53-49 on Thursday while the Boilermakers outlasted Tennessee 99-94 in overtime.It marks Purdue's first Elite Eight appearance since 2000 and the initial one in five attempts during Matt Painter's 14 seasons as coach.Surprise star Ryan Cline, who drained seven 3-pointers while scoring 27 points against Tennessee, was well aware of the significance of his team's victory."Obviously, considering we haven't been able to get over that hump, per se," Cline, a senior guard, said in the postgame press conference. "But for the first time getting back to the Elite Eight since 2000. I'm happy for myself, happy for my guys and happy for Coach Paint, and it's something we definitely worked hard for." Virginia will be aiming to disrupt the outside shooting of Cline and junior star guard Carsen Edwards, who scored 29 points against the Volunteers.The Cavaliers are well-known for their defensive tactics and they held Oregon without a field goal for the final 5:43 of Thursday's win."Offensively, there were struggles, but you've got to hang in there defensively," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said in the postgame press conference. "That's how we're built. We will have a test -- you look at the offensive output that Purdue had and how they move -- and I know Matt, and I think he's one of the finest coaches." The Cavaliers have limited their three NCAA Tournament opponents to an average of 52 points with first-round foe Gardner-Webb posting the highest output of 56.Meanwhile, Purdue has scored an average of 93 points in its last two wins and Edwards is averaging 32.3 points in the tournament, topped by a 42-point effort against Villanova in the second round.Counting a 30-point outing in a loss to Texas Tech in last year's Sweet 16, Edwards is the first player to score 25 or more points in four consecutive NCAA Tournament contests since a fellow named Stephen Curry.Curry turned the trick in five straight games for Davidson in the 2007 and 2008 tourneys."Oh, man. That's pretty dope. I didn't know that," Edwards said in the postgame press conference. "It's a blessing to be here and have an opportunity to play at this level and play with a bunch of good guys and a good staff that believes in me. I'm just happy to be here, man. I just want to continue to play." The Cavaliers don't have an explosive player like Edwards -- or the version of Cline that appeared on Thursday -- as the balanced group had four players score between 10 and 13 points in the win over Oregon.The defensive approach that strangled the Ducks down the stretch has racked up a lot of victories. Virginia has allowed 70 or more points on just three occasions -- two coming in losses to Duke.Junior point guard Ty Jerome had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists against the Ducks, and he's ecstatic to play in an Elite Eight contest after Thursday represented his first taste of the Sweet 16."A tiny bit more exciting," Jerome said after the win over Oregon. "Another opportunity to play with these guys and play for Coach Bennett and the rest of the coaches, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be an amazing environment. So just the game you dream of as a kid." --Field Level Media