Purdue vs Rutgers Prediction 3/4/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Purdue Boilermakers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Mackey Arena. Here’s a Purdue vs Rutgers prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Purdue vs Rutgers pick.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Betting Preview

Rutgers has had some mixed results so far this year, and they’re just under the .500 mark in the record column overall. The Knights opened up with an 8-5 run, taking wins over Wagner, Saint Peter’s, Monmouth, Merrimack, Notre Dame, Penn State, Seton Hall, and Columbia during that time. Rutgers would then lose the next three versus Indiana, Wisconsin, and Purdue before wins over UCLA and Nebraska. Since then it’s been a 4-7 run for the Knights. Rutgers has victories over Northwestern, Illinois, Washington, and USC during that time alongside losses to Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, Maryland, Iowa, Oregon, and Michigan. That gives Rutgers an overall record of 14-15 over the first 29 games this year.

In the Michigan road rematch on Thursday, the Knights jumped out to a 57-49 halftime edge. Rutgers lost the handle in the second half however, falling behind on a 35-25 run and taking the eventual loss 84-82 in a tough result. Both Lathan Sommerville (three rebounds) and Dylan Harper (four rebounds; three steals) posted a team-high 17 points in the defeat. Tyson Acuff added 16 bench points with a pair of assists in 25 minutes of work, and Ace Bailey chipped in with 13 points and nine boards alongside three assists.

Purdue Boilermakers Betting Preview

Over on the Purdue side, they were on a great run through their first two dozen games but they’ve struggled a bit since mid-February. The Boilermakers went 8-4 to start the year, taking losses to Marquette, Penn State, Texas A&M and Auburn. Purdue would lose to only Ohio State in the next 12, otherwise dispatching Toledo, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, Nebraska, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, and USC. After four straight losses to Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Indiana, Purdue finally got another win over UCLA, giving the Boilermakers a 20-9 record this year through 29 outings.

Back on Friday versus UCLA in a home game, the Boilermakers were up by just two points at the break. Purdue hit a 39-31 run the rest of the way though, eventually powering out a 76-66 win in the end. Trey Kaufman-Renn led the team in the victory with his 29 points, three steals, and three rebounds in 38 minutes. Braden Smith wasn’t far behind with 23 points, eight assists, four steals, and three rebounds, while Fletcher Loyer chipped in with 11 points, two assists, and one rebound in 33 minutes of action.

Why the Purdue Boilermakers will win

• Purdue has won 33 of its last 34 games at Mackey Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Rutgers has lost seven of its last eight games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Purdue has won the first half in 26 of its last 28 night games at Mackey Arena.

Why the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will win

• Purdue has lost four of its last five games.
• Rutgers has won the first half in each of its last six night games against the Big Ten Conference.

Purdue vs Rutgers Prediction

I’ll stay with Rutgers here, but we should have a pretty good matchup. The Knights fell just short of toppling a good Michigan team in a road outing this past week, shooting 44.8 percent from the field with 16 points off 14 Wolverines turnovers. Rutgers gave up 53.7 percent shooting on the other side though, and got outmuscled on the boards 38-27. The Knights have hit 82 or more points in three straight games now, winning two of them.

Rutgers didn’t play very well the last time these teams met up, posting a 68-50 loss at home on January 9. The Knights shot just 32.7 percent from the field in that one and coughed up 16 turnovers for 11 Boilermakers points. Rutgers rebounded well (36) but couldn’t overcome Purdue’s 50 percent shooting. There’s a lot to clean up in the road rematch, but Purdue has looked vulnerable lately—albeit against some tough competition. The Boilermakers have been below 67 points in two of their last three games (both were losses) so if Rutgers can get off to a fast start Tuesday and control the ball-control mistakes I could see the Knights keeping pace. That said, Purdue is also capable of dominating this one if they play to their capabilities.