The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Purdue Boilermakers meet Monday in college basketball action from Mackey Arena. Iowa enters this matchup at 5-2 overall following a win over North Florida on Wednesday. As for Purdue, they’re coming off their first loss of the year to Northwestern, dropping the Boilermakers to 7-1 overall. Let’s get into our Iowa vs. Purdue prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Iowa Hawkeyes 

The Hawkeyes managed to go 4-2 over their first half-dozen games this year. Iowa’s losses in that time were to Creighton and Oklahoma, surrounded by wins over North Dakota, Alabama State, Arkansas State, and Seton Hall otherwise. In the win over the Pirates 85-72, the Hawkeyes shot a nice 56.4 percent from the floor but got out-rebounded 16-3 on the offensive glass. 

In their latest matchup versus North Florida, Iowa had a modest 47-43 lead by the break. The Hawkeyes turned it on with 56 points in the second half however, eventually winning 103-78. Leading the team in scoring were Tony Perkins and Ben Krikke, each with 21 points and a combined four rebounds. 

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Purdue Boilermakers 

Over on the Boilermakers’ side, they came out of the gate with a nice seven-game win streak this year. Purdue took out Samford, Morehead State, Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette, and Texas Southern in that time. The Boilermakers posted a 46-29 rebounding advantage in their 99-67 win over Texas Southern. 

Purdue took their first loss of the year in their last matchup versus Northwestern. The Boilermakers took a 44-36 deficit in the second half and eventually fell in overtime 92-88. Tops in scoring was Zach Edey with 35 points and 14 rebounds, while Fletcher Loyer added 17 points with three rebounds. 

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I’ll probably just go with Purdue. The Boilermakers faded in the second half during their loss to a good Northwestern team, eventually shooting just 26.3 percent from 3-point range (5-of-19) and 75.6 percent (31-of-41) from the line. Purdue still had a dominant edge on the boards 52-27 (16-5 offensive) but also coughed up 17 turnovers. Still, I think the Boilermakers will regroup and play better here; they’ve hit 71 or more points in every game so far and should post a nice total on Monday. 

As for Iowa, they didn’t have too many issues against North Florida once they got going in their last game. The Hawkeyes have been scoring great themselves this year with 84 or more points in all but one game. This should be an entertaining matchup, but I like Purdue to rise to the occasion at Mackey.