Keagan Smith shares his preview, prediction, and pick for Sunday\u2019s NCAA Tournament game between the Miami Hurricanes and Purdue Boilermakers in the second round.<\/p>\n
Play the music! The 2026 NCAA Tournament continues this weekend with the second round. With the March Madness field thinned to 32 remaining teams across 16 matchups, the pressure cooker of this environment is beginning to build for each program still left dancing.<\/p>\n
The Miami Hurricanes<\/a> and Purdue Boilermakers<\/a> meet on Sunday in a matchup between No. 7 and No. 2 seeds. While the Boilermakers may appear to have the upper hand in this one, the environment is actually perfect to potentially brew an upset. Is this contest going to give us some March magic?<\/p>\n Prepare for Sunday\u2019s game with a Miami vs. Purdue prediction, pick and more on DraftKings Sportsbook ahead of the 12:10 p.m. EST opening tip.<\/p>\n Miami vs. Purdue prediction, preview<\/p>\n Miami Hurricanes<\/p>\n The U may be back! Miami sits 26-8 overall this season and downed No. 10 seed Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, blowing the game open in the late stages to win 80-66. These Hurricanes<\/a> may not get the most love from national pundits, but they are sneaky good depending on how you look at things. They\u2019re only 6-6 against Quad 1 teams, but two of those losses came to Virginia and two more came at the hands of Florida and Louisville \u2014 all either elite or near-elite teams in this field.<\/p>\n The KenPom rankings put the Hurricanes 30th in NETRTG at +21.06. They\u2019re not truly elite in most categories, but they\u2019re a very well-rounded unit overall. Miami ranks 31st in ORTG and scores 81.9 PPG, good for 35th in the nation. The team shoots 49.9% from the field, 12th best, with a 35.1% rate from downtown. The Canes are also averaging 16.2 assists with a 1.451 AST\/TO ratio, and their 37.6 rebounds per game are also 53rd in the country. Defensively, they give up 71.0 PPG and are 35th in DRTG. They\u2019re also producing 7.9 steals per game, good for 51st.<\/p>\n Malik Reneau headlines the roster with 19.0 points to go along with 6.6 rebounds, shooting 54.5% from the field. Tre Donaldson\u2019s 16.5 points are second on the team with a roster-high 5.8 assists as the lead guard. Shelton Henderson averages 13.7 points with 4.9 boards, and Tru Washington brings 12.0 PPG as well. Ernest Udeh Jr. also plays heavy minutes with 9.3 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n Purdue Boilermakers<\/p>\n The Boilermakers stunned folks by taking the Big Ten Tournament over the Michigan Wolverines<\/a>, so they now enter this matchup on a five-game winning streak after a commanding win over Queens in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It\u2019s tough to glean much from that showing since it ended 104-71, an expected result against a No. 15 seed with one of the worst defenses in the sport. Purdue faces a much more real test now; they\u2019ve gone 11-8 against Quad 1 sides this season, but you never know with this program.<\/p>\n In the latest KenPom rankings, the Boilermakers are No. 8 with a +31.62 NETRTG. They have the top attack in the nation based on ORTG, though you may not guess it based on their 82.3 PPG that falls 32nd. However, they\u2019re averaging an NCAA-best 20.0 assists along with a 2.239 AST\/TO ratio, also tops in the country. Purdue brings efficient scoring as well, hitting 50.3% of its shots and 38.5% of its threes, both top-12 numbers at the Division I level. The Boilermakers are just average on the glass with 35.6 rebounds a game, but they allow only 70.2 PPG and are a respectable 37th in DRTG.<\/p>\n Guard Braden Smith broke the NCAA career all-time assists record in the opening round and averages 14.3 points with 9.0 assists a game, also tacking on 1.7 steals. Trey Kaufman-Renn brings 14.0 points with a team-high 8.5 rebounds, while Fletcher Loyer posts 13.8 PPG with a 42.3% 3P%. Oscar Cluff contributes 10.6 points with 7.5 rebounds. C.J. Cox also plays a prominent role in the rotation.<\/p>\n Miami vs. Purdue pick, best bet<\/p>\n DraftKings Sportsbook lists Purdue as a 7.5-point favorite in this one with -340 odds on the Moneyline. Miami enters as a ML underdog at +270 odds with the game total set at 147.5 combined points.<\/p>\n Maybe I\u2019m getting too cute, but this game screams upset to me. The Boilermakers are notoriously difficult to trust and it seems flameouts in March have become something of an annual tradition for the program. Yes, Purdue is amazing on offense, but the Hurricanes have plenty of size to pull down rebounds while making life tough on the opposing offense, plus they bring a nice one-two punch at the top of the rotation. Anyone telling you this is a Purdue blowout is simply wrong, and I\u2019ll stand on that. If a well-rounded Miami group can play a mostly clean game, I genuinely believe the team can cover and flat-out win. The Canes mostly work inside the perimeter and their opponent is 340th in opponent two-point percentage since New Year\u2019s Day. I simply favor the size and ability to get out in transition that Miami brings, so I\u2019m taking the lower-seeded team to cover here as my best bet\u2026 while strongly encouraging a Moneyline pick if you have a little tolerance for risk.<\/p>\n Best Bet: Miami FL +7.5 (-110)<\/a><\/p>\n