Yale vs. Purdue Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
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Nik Kowalski
The Purdue Boilermakers are loaded with stars ready to make a deep run, but first they’ll face off with the Yale Bulldogs in the 3 vs. 14 matchup. The Boilermakers are back as a high seed and will be looking for a much-longer run after getting upset by North Texas in the Round of 64 a year ago. Yale’s making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and won the Ivy League last week via a 66-64 victory over Princeton.
Tip-off at Fiserv Forum goes Friday at 2 p.m. EDT with Purdue standing as a 16-point favourite to win and the over-under at 143 on the NCAAB odds.
Yale vs. Purdue NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The Boilermakers enter Friday with an 0-7 record against the spread in both their last seven games overall, and their last seven games played in March. Purdue struggled ATS throughout the year finishing with a 13-20-1 record. Yale finished 19-11 overall on the season, but is on an 11-2 run and 4-1 run ATS heading into the tournament.
Purdue averaged just under 80 points a contest this season which put them in the top 15 scoring teams in the nation. They’re also a top-five three-point shooting team, so Yale has their hands full on defence. That said, the Bulldogs’ last five games have all gone under.
Yale Bulldogs (14)
Senior guard Azar Swain comes into Friday scoring over 20 points in all of his last three outings, and is Yale’s go-to guy for offence. Swain easily led the Bulldogs with 19.2 points per game and mixed in a couple 30-point performances this season — something that likely needs to happen if Yale’s to pull off the upset. Swain also collected 4.2 rebounds per game despite being just 6’0.
Jallen Gabbidon is another senior guard to watch for the Bulldogs. He’s Yale’s only other double-digit scorer on the season with 11.6 points on average and a close to 50 per cent field goal percentage. Gabbidon joins Swain as the only Bulldogs players with All-Ivy honours this season.
Purdue Boilermakers (3)
Toronto native Zach Edey is the player who will stand out visibly. At 7’4, Edey is the Boilermakers’ main option in the paint for offence. On the perimeter, it’s Jaden Ivey and his team-leading 17.4 points per game. Ivey projects as an NBA lottery pick this year. Edey averaged just under 15 a game and also led the team with 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. And 6’10 forward Trevion Williams is another double-digit scorer who averaged above seven rebounds too, and reinforces Purdue’s size.
Guards Mason Gillis and Eric Hunter Jr. contribute the most to Purdue’s top-five 3-point shooting. Each finished the season shooting over 40 per cent from the arc, highlighted by Hunter Jr. knocking down 32 of 68 3-point attempts.
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