G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images. Pictured: Trevion Williams.
#4 Purdue vs. #13 North Texas Odds
| Projected Spread | Purdue -7 | |
| Projected Total | 120.63 | |
| Projected ML | Purdue -274 | |
| Time | TBA | |
| TV | TBA | |
| Projected odds based on our initial PRO Projections. Odds will be added once they’re released. | ||
How Purdue & North Texas Match Up
| Purdue | vs. | North Texas |
| 274 | Tempo | 350 |
| 98 | eFG% | 39 |
| 165 | TO% | 244 |
| 50 | OR% | 174 |
| 158 | FTR | 282 |
| 108 | DeFG% | 20 |
| 284 | DTO% | 53 |
| 34 | DR% | 136 |
| 149 | DFTR | 178 |
| All stats via KenPom. | ||
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What To Know About Purdue
Purdue did sweep its regular-season series with Ohio State, which is indeed an impressive feat. And furthermore, the Boilermakers hung tough in a number of tough losses. Given the staggering depth of the Big Ten this season, it’s expected that teams like Purdue are going to get a bit chewed up during conference play.
But — while those concessions may be reasonable — they are also damning, at least insofar as a potential Final Four run is concerned. Trevion Williams is a double-double machine, but I’m hard-pressed to back a team that features a 6-foot-10, 265-pound big man as its chief offensive weapon come tournament time.
Williams ranks first in the country in percentage of shots taken (37.3%) for his respective team, per KenPom. Purdue also ranks 285th in Adjusted Tempo. The playbook is straightforward enough: Feed Williams on the block, crash the boards, milk the clock, and grind out a win in the final five minutes of regulation.
That strategy may have been good enough to sweep the Buckeyes during the regular season, but it’s not a paradigm I trust on a two-day turnaround entering the Round of 32 or the Elite Eight. — Ryan Collinsworth
What To Know About North Texas
The Mean Green have one of the most experienced rosters in the country and are led by one of the most underrated coaches in Grant McCasland.
North Texas earns its money on the defensive end, where it ranks in the 94th percentile in points per possession allowed in the half court, per Synergy. In three games in the conference tournament, opponents have scored 56, 55 and 48 points. The Mean Green are relentless on that end of the floor, consistently forcing opponents into bad shots.
And while the offense doesn’t put up extremely gaudy numbers, that’s more of a result of their snail-like pace (347th in Adjusted Tempo, per KenPom). Ultimately, it’s a fairly efficient unit (especially in transition when they do actually run), led by the inside-out senior duo of guard Javion Hamlet and big man Zachary Simmons.
That said, they aren’t a great offensive rebounding team (partly by design) and have been plagued by turnover issues throughout the season. — Stuckey