2/16 Big Ten Preview: Purdue Travels to Maryland

There are two games tonight with Purdue traveling to Maryland and Iowa set to host Ohio State. Let’s take a look at the upcoming action.

Game of the Night

#3 Purdue Boilermakers at Maryland Terrapins

• Time/TV: 6:30 PM ET BTN
• Line: Purdue -1.5

In the first game tonight the Boilermakers will try to bounce back on the road against Maryland. In their last game Purdue allowed Northwestern to hang around in an overly physical, somewhat unevenly officiated game until the Wildcats came back in the final minutes. Today they’ll face a Maryland team that they almost allowed to crawl back around when they played in West Lafayette.

Maryland has played well since losing to Purdue, going 5-1 over their past six games. When these two teams last played the Terps shot 37.3% from the field and 14.3% on 21 three pointers. Maryland has struggled heavily from range, shooting 30.4% this season from three.

Zach Edey was slowed down against Northwestern partially because of their reliance on double teaming him and because officials were conservative with the whistle. Will Maryland be that lucky if they try to body Edey tonight? When they last played Edey scored 24 points and added 16 rebounds, with Purdue’s struggles coming from their backcourt shooting 15.4% from three and the rest of the roster hitting only 10 of their 35 field goals.

On the bright side for Purdue the Boilermakers have seen improved play from their backcourt as of late. Braden Smith has still looked pretty rough, but Mason Gillis has been lighting it up from beyond the arc and David Jenkins Jr. has finally started to shine in his role with the team. If Purdue’s guards can shoot a bit better then the last time these two teams faced off the Boilermakers should be in good shape.

This would be a huge win for Maryland but this is also a perfect bounce back game for the Boilermakers. If Maryland can’t figure out Edey this time around it’s going to be a long night and with Purdue’s backcourt starting to step up, Purdue finds a way to bring home a much needed win on the road.

Pick: Purdue

The Rest

Ohio State Buckeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes

• Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET ESPN2
• Line: Iowa -7.0

In the second game tonight Ohio State heads west to Iowa. The Buckeyes have gone 1-11 over their past 12 games, losing six straight and bottoming out last time out when they scored 41 points at home against Michigan State. Things have hit rock bottom and it’s safe to say any chance for a postseason bid is long gone. With the rest of the week featuring road trips to Iowa and Purdue, things won’t get any easier.

Iowa bounced back from a road loss to Purdue with a win over Minnesota. At 8-6 they’re in the midst of the logjam in the Big Ten and need to avoid a loss to Ohio State. The Hawkeyes offense has been steady all year and with Ohio State’s offense starting to fall off that should prove key for a Hawkeyes team that has struggled defensively.

With Ohio State still struggling and this game taking place in Iowa it’s hard to see the Buckeyes winning tonight.

Pick: Iowa