Purdue vs. Queens Prediction<\/p>\n
In the No. 2 vs. No. 15 matchup in the NCAA Tournament West Region, Purdue vs. Queens is the first-round game at 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20 with a trip to second round on the line.<\/p>\n
Make VSiN your home for the duration of the NCAA Tournament and beyond. Take advantage of our college basketball betting tools and previews and predictions on every single March Madness game. We have College Basketball Betting Splits<\/a> from DraftKings Sportsbook and Circa Sports<\/a>, updated Vegas College Basketball Odds<\/a>, College Basketball Odds<\/a> from other states, College Basketball Matchup Data<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n Check out Greg Peterson\u2019s Daily College Basketball Lines<\/a>, Steve Makinen\u2019s Power Ratings Lines<\/a>, and look at College Basketball Picks<\/a> from our VSiN Experts.<\/p>\n See all of our game previews and predictions in our March Madness Betting Hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up for the FREE March Betting Challenge<\/a> sponsored by ProphetX and EdgeBoost and\/or the $1 Million High Stakes Survivor Madness<\/a> presented by Splash Sports.<\/p>\n How to Watch Purdue vs. Queens<\/p>\n When: 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20th<\/p>\n Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO<\/p>\n Watch: truTV<\/p>\n Odds for Purdue vs. Queens<\/p>\n (odds current at time of publish)<\/p>\n Spread: Purdue -24.5 (-110), Queens +24.5 (-110)<\/p>\n Total: Over 163.5 (-110), Under 163.5 (-110)<\/p>\n Purdue vs. Queens Prediction & Preview<\/p>\n There\u2019s a fun wrinkle to this 2-15 matchup that goes beyond the seedings: Queens University of Charlotte is one of only four programs in history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in their first year of full Division I eligibility. They couldn\u2019t even play in the Big Dance until this season due to the NCAA\u2019s transitional rules, so Grant Leonard\u2019s squad makes history just by showing up in St. Louis on Friday. That\u2019s a genuinely great story. The basketball reality, though, is a little less romantic.<\/p>\n Matt Painter enters his 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament \u2014 we\u2019ll never know about 2020 \u2014 riding some serious momentum after his Boilermakers squad knocked off No. 1 Michigan 80-72 to claim the Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday. That\u2019s the kind of statement win that earns you a No. 2 seed and pushes whatever late-season concerns were brewing to the back burner. And there were legitimate concerns. After a 17-1 start, Purdue went 6-7 to close the regular season, a stretch that included a three-game losing streak and four losses in six games, several of them featuring defensive performances that were hard to watch. The team that beat Alabama and crushed Texas Tech in November looked like a different outfit by February.<\/p>\n The thing about Purdue, though, is that the offense never really went anywhere. Braden Smith is set to become the program\u2019s all-time assists leader in his next game, Oscar Cluff has evolved into a genuine interior force, and Trey Kaufman-Renn provides the kind of steady production you want in March. Fletcher Loyer remains a genuine threat to go off from 3 at any moment. The Boilermakers are top-tier in eFG%, 2P%, turnover rate, and offensive rebounding \u2014 all the hallmarks of a team that can go on a run. The defense, however, is sitting outside the top 200 in eFG% defense and 2P% defense, and the adjusted metrics only look reasonable because of the strength of schedule. It\u2019s a profile eerily similar to last year\u2019s Purdue squad that made the Sweet 16 before losing 62-60 to Houston \u2014 poor defensive efficiency, great offense, one bad defensive game away from elimination.<\/p>\n Queens is an absolutely fascinating offensive team that just can\u2019t guard anybody, which makes this matchup \u2014 on paper at least \u2014 an interesting one stylistically. Carson Schwieger logged 217 3-point attempts against just 41 attempts from 2 during the regular season and conference tournament. Chris Ashby took 282 from 3 against 41 from 2. This is an offense-first program that ranked in the top 25 in eFG% and top 20 in 2P% offense, which means they can fill it up when the shots are falling. Coach Leonard, known for the loud sweaters as much as the X\u2019s and O\u2019s, has built something genuinely watchable in Charlotte. Their win over Central Arkansas was the 21st of the season and a program record at the Division I level.<\/p>\n The problem is that Queens\u2019 defensive numbers land somewhere in the 260s to 310s nationally depending on the category, and they went 0-6 against Quadrant 1 and 2 opponents. They\u2019re a poor rebounding team that went into this tournament 21-13, which means the losses were plentiful against anything resembling real competition. The irony here is that Purdue\u2019s best chance of losing this game is the defense getting torched by all those 3s \u2014 and Queens\u2019 best shot at winning is doing exactly that. But Purdue\u2019s offensive firepower and size is several levels above anything Queens has faced this season. The Boilermakers should roll here, though if they sleepwalk into another sloppy defensive half, the Royals will at least keep it interesting long enough to make you nervous.<\/p>\n