The No. 17 Louisville Cardinals travel to Purdue to take on the Boilermakers in the ACC/Big10 challenge tonight at 8pm, the game can be seen on ESPN. As it stands currently, Louisville is the underdog by 8.5 points.
Purdue started their season ranked and still boasts much of the height the Cards saw in last season’s matchup. Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms stand at 7’2″ and 7’3″, respectively. All 5 of Purdue’s starters average double-figure scoring, led by Carson Edwards at 18.0 PPG.
The Boilermakers competed in the Battle For Atlantis this past week and dropped 2 games to unranked teams but finished strong by throttling then No. 2 Arizona 89-64 to claim 7th place in the tournament.
Purdue relies heavily on their 3-point shooting for their offensive production. Their height will certainly challenge Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding, but the Cards’ backcourt will have to negate the outside threat in order to win tonight.
This is Louisville’s first real test of the season, and it’s a scary one especially because it’s on the road. I think the point spread of 8.5 is way too large and I believe Louisville will be the better team tonight.
Prediction: Louisville 75-Purdue 70.
Go Cards!
