Purdue squares off against USC in Big Ten Tournament
USC Trojans (16-16, 8-13 Big Ten) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (21-10, 13-7 Big Ten)
Indianapolis; Thursday, 9 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Boilermakers -9.5; over/under is 149.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 20 Purdue plays in the Big Ten Tournament against USC.
The Boilermakers have gone 13-7 against Big Ten opponents, with an 8-3 record in non-conference play. Purdue is 1-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Trojans are 8-13 against Big Ten teams. USC is ninth in the Big Ten scoring 33.2 points per game in the paint led by Desmond Claude averaging 7.7.
Purdue makes 49.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.6 percentage points higher than USC has allowed to its opponents (46.0%). USC averages 7.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.2 fewer makes per game than Purdue gives up.
The teams play each other for the second time this season. Purdue won the last meeting 90-72 on Feb. 8. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 24 to help lead Purdue to the win, and Wesley Yates III scored 30 points for USC.
TOP PERFORMERS: Braden Smith is shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Boilermakers, while averaging 16.3 points, 8.7 assists and 2.3 steals. Kaufman-Renn is shooting 64.0% and averaging 23.1 points over the last 10 games.
Claude is shooting 49.7% and averaging 16.2 points for the Trojans. Chibuzo Agbo is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Boilermakers: 5-5, averaging 79.8 points, 28.7 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 6.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 50.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.1 points per game.
Trojans: 3-7, averaging 78.1 points, 28.0 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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