Keagan Smith shares his preview, prediction, and pick for Friday’s NCAA Tournament game between the Queens Royals and Purdue Boilermakers.

Play the music! March Madness’ Round of 64 tipped off yesterday with matchups all across the schedule, but the action continues today with even more! Whether you’re tuning in at your leisure this evening or taking off work with the diehards to soak in the action, there are games for everyone no matter where you look.

The Purdue Boilermakers are a No. 2 seed in this bracket and come off a standout victory over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. Yet, they don’t feel secure heading into any March, with early exits and NCAA Tournament heartbreak a common theme for the program. To begin their 2026 run, they take on the Queens (NC) Royals, a No. 15 challenger hailing from the ASUN Conference.

Prepare for the game with a Queens vs. Purdue prediction, pick and more on DraftKings Sportsbook ahead of tonight’s contest.

Queens vs. Purdue prediction, preview

Queens Royals

The Royals are 21-13 on the year and just took the ASUN title with an overtime win over Central Arkansas in the conference championship, marking a significant achievement for a program that just began competing at the Division I level in 2022. Their first NCAA Tournament appearance coming just four years after the move is quite the accomplishment, but this’ll be an extremely difficult test on Friday. The team went 0-5 across Quad 1 games this season and now has one of its toughest battles of all of those.

The Royals are 183rd in the KenPom rankings with a -1.44 NETRTG. The offense is the driver of their success — they’re 77th in ORTG and average 84.8 PPG, 17th most in the country. A 48.2% FG% ranks 31st and a 35.9% 3P% is good for 67th, and they’re 24th in 3PM per game. Beyond that, they’re producing 15.9 assists with a 1.501 AST/TO ratio, both of which are 52nd or better. However, rebounding and defense are significant problems. Queens allows a shocking 83.2 PPG, 348th at the D1 level. The program is 320th in DRTG and also hauls in just 33.7 rebounds, 242nd as well. Discipline is also an issue with 19.7 fouls per game, 334th in the country.

This is a group that emphasizes team contributions with six players scoring double-digit points. Nasir Mann leads the unit with 13.4 points and 5.8 rebounds, followed by Yoav Berman with 12.6 points and 3.8 assists. Jordan Watford scores 11.9 points and dishes 3.8 dimes as Chris Ashby pitches in 11.7 PPG. Avantae Parker averages 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, and Carson Schieger adds 10.2 PPG. This rotation should be condensed given the stakes.

Purdue Boilermakers

The last few years have been pretty brutal for Purdue. The program is making its sixth consecutive appearance in March Madness but failed to make it out of the first round twice, also losing in the regional semis twice with a championship loss two years ago. The Boilermakers are now 27-8 on the year as they come off a Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan, so momentum has built over the last week or so. At 11-8 against Quad 1 teams with an unbeaten record against all others, they’re largely battle tested.

Purdue’s NETRTG of +31.18 is good for eighth in the KenPom rankings. The team boasts the nation’s best offense in terms of ORTG, producing 81.7 PPG. The Boilermakers are efficient in almost all regards, notching a 49.9% FG% (12th), 37.9% 3P% (20th), 19.9 assists (second), a 2.248 AST/TO ratio (first), plus the third-best AST/FGM ratio. That’s quite impressive, and while 35.4 rebounds per game are relatively average, they’re 21st in OREB%, too. They’re quite sound on the other side of the ball, allowing 70.1 PPG (62nd) with the 36th-ranked DRTG.

Braden Smith paces scorers for the Boilermakers with 14.0 points, but he’s also the bona fide engine of the offense with an NCAA-leading 9.1 assists per contest. Fletcher Loyer averages 13.8 PPG with a 42.1% mark from downtown. Trey Kaufman-Renn brings 13.6 points with a team-high 8.5 rebounds, while Oscar Cluff contributes 10.6 points with 7.4 boards. C.J. Cox also plays an important role in the rotation.

Queens vs. Purdue pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists Purdue as a staggering 25.5-point favorite in this one. Queens holds +2200 odds on the Moneyline as an underdog with the game total set at 163.5 combined points.

In seven games against Quad 3 opponents this season, the Boilermakers have won all by an average margin of 18.57 PPG. If we factor in Quad 4 opponents as well since the Royals fall fairly close to the cutoff between those two quadrants, the mark increases to 21.8 PPG. The 25.5-point spread seen in this contest is a wide one to cover, especially in the context of those past meetings against lower-quality teams. However, I still think Purdue can cover here. The Boilermakers are truly one of the best offenses in the nation thanks to their elite efficiency metrics, and it’s not like they’re facing a solid defense here either. With Queens bringing one of the worst defensive units in Division I hoops, there’s reason to believe this is still a cover spot for Purdue as it cruises to a win. Were their team total not 94.5 points — a mark the group has exceeded only three times this season — I’d consider the over on it as well. With that in mind, it might even be worth fading the Boilermakers on that one given the track record if you’re bold.

Best Bet: Purdue -25.5 (-110)

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