Purdue vs Nicholls State 12/29/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Nicholls State Colonels and the Purdue Boilermakers meet in college basketball action from Mackey Arena on Wednesday night.

The Nicholls State Colonels come into this game looking to bounce back from an 83-61 loss at the hands of Oregon State in their last game. Ty Gordon leads the Colonels in scoring and assists with 20.4 PPG and 3.1 APG while Devante Carter has 11.1 PPG and 3 APG as the only other double-digit scorer for Nicholls State so far this season. Latrell Jones has 9.1 PPG and Emmanuel Little has 7.8 PPG with 6.3 RPG and Manny Littles leads the Colonels in rebounding with 6.5 RPG as well this season. As a team, Nicholls State is averaging79.5 PPG on 47.2% shooting from the field, 35% from three and 60% from the foul line while allowing 68.2 PPG on 41.3% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three this season.

The Purdue Boilermakers will be out to build on a 79-59 win over Incarnate Word last time out. Jaden Ivey leads the Boilermakers in scoring with 16.5 PPG along with 5.3 RPG and 3.3 APG while Zach Edey has 14.4 PPG with 7.5 RPG. Trevion Williams has 13.7 PPG with a team-high 8.9 RPG and 2.8 APG and Sasha Stefanovic has 11.3 PPG with a team-high 3.9 APG to lead the Boilers in assists while rounding out the group of double-digit scorers for Purdue so far this season. As a team, Purdue is averaging 85.8 PPG on 51.1% shooting from the field, 40.4% from three and 73.8% from the foul line while allowing 64 PPG on 41.3% shooting from the field and 31% from three this season.

I get that this is a lot of points to be giving to an 8-5 team on the surface, but the reality is that Nicholls State’s last four wins have come in the from of a pair of subdivision opponents and two wins against Mississippi Valley State, perennial D-I doormats. Now the Colonels did take Wisconsin to their limit and got a cover against TCU, but they also just had their doors blown off by a struggling Oregon State team and now have to take on one of the best offensive units in the country in Purdue. We’ve seen Purdue win by 30+ against many subpar opponents this year and I think this spot is no different. I’ll lay the points with Purdue in this spot.