The Texas Southern Tigers and the Purdue Boilermakers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Mackey Arena. Texas Southern is winless so far this year and fresh off a six-point loss to Drake over the weekend. As for Purdue, they’re on a six-game win streak to open up the year, most recently taking out Marquette last Wednesday. Here’s a Texas Southern vs Purdue Prediction.

Texas Southern Tigers 

The Tigers haven’t had any luck in the win column this year, but to be fair they’ve taken on a few tough teams in their half-dozen games. Texas Southern opened up with losses to New Mexico, Arizona State, Virginia, Creighton and Oral Roberts. In the loss to the Eagles, the Tigers managed a tepid 38.7 percent fro the field but secured 39 rebounds as well. 

Texas Southern recorded another loss in their last appearance versus Drake, but they made a game of it. The Tigers were down 43-30 at the break but managed to work their way back up to a 77-71 result. Texas Southern’s PJ Henry was the team’s leading scorer on 27 points, four assists and three steals. 

Purdue Boilermakers 

Over on the Purdue side, they’ve had a couple of close calls this year but have remained unscathed so far. The Boilermakers kicked things off with a run of wins versus Samford, Morehead State and Xavier, then took out big hitters Gonzaga and Tennessee. Purdue shot a tepid 35.2 percent from the field versus the Volunteers, however they also managed a 44-31 edge in rebounding. 

The Boilermakers had another tough matchup versus Marquette in their last appearance. After a 45-33 halftime edge, Purdue had to hang on for a 78-75 victory. Zach Edey led the way on a double-double with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Braden Smith added 18 points with five rebounds and five assists in the winning effort. 

ANDREW’S FREE PURDUE VS TEXAS SOUTHERN PREDICTION

I’ll probably just stick with Purdue. Probably also staying away due to the thick line, though. The Boilermakers have run the gauntlet over their last three games and come out the other side with a trio of victories. Purdue shot a nice 50.8 percent from the field versus Marquette with 47.6 percent from 3-point range. The big stat was once again rebounding; the Boilermakers posted a 36-23 advantage on the boards (13-5 offensive) which carried the team to the victory. Purdue has hit 71 or more points in every game so far, and it’ll be hard for Texas Southern to keep pace here. 

Speaking of the Tigers, they played one of their better games of the year against Drake in their last outing, but thus far it’s been a struggle. Texas Southern has very little chance at being competitive on Tuesday, so the real question is margin of victory for Purdue. I think the Boilermakers will get there, but I’m not touching it.