Purdue vs Marquette Odds, Picks and Predictions: Marquette Makes Most of Maui Invitational

The No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers and the No. 4 Marquette Golden Eagles clash in the Maui Invitational championship this afternoon. Multiple tournaments tipped off across the country for Feast Week and this is the biggest one of all with several marquee programs taking part. The semifinals saw four teams ranked among the Top-7 schools in the country collide with Purdue edging Tennessee and Marquette beating Kansas.

College basketball odds have the Boilermakers as 3.5-point favorites for this showdown in Hawaii.

Here are my best free college basketball picks and predictions for Purdue vs. Marquette on Wednesday, November 22.

Purdue vs Marquette best odds

Purdue vs Marquette picks and predictions

Both of these programs entered the season with national championship expectations and have gotten off to perfect 5-0 starts. The Purdue Boilermakers mounted a second-half comeback to defeat No. 11 Gonzaga 73-63 in the opening round of this tournament before beating No. 7 Tennessee 71-67 in the semifinals.

The Marquette Golden Eagles had a close 2-point victory against UCLA in the opening round and upset No. 1 Kansas by a final score of 73-59. 

That was a very impressive performance from Marquette, who led for almost the entire game and was up by 17 points with seven minutes remaining. The normally sharp-shooting Golden Eagles went just 6-for-25 from beyond the arc but still controlled the game by forcing 18 turnovers and limiting star Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson to 13 points.

Dickinson is arguably the second-best big man in the college game but now the Golden Eagles will face the best in reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey. Edey had 25 points and 14 boards versus the Zags before tallying 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Vols. 

Tennessee was extremely physical with Edey down low, drawing four fouls and limiting him to 26 minutes but also sending him to the line for 17 free-throw attempts. With 6-foot-11 senior Osa Ighodaro (14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game) and backup center Ben Gold, Marquette has the size to at least frustrate Edey to some extent. Edey will still most likely get his points down low but the issue remains if his supporting cast can consistently knock down shots around him. 

Poor guard play led to the Boilermakers getting upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season and that still appears to be an issue. They went just 8-for-32 from deep in their last two games while turning the ball over 28 times and the rest of the team — besides Edey — shot just 27.3% from the field on Tuesday.

Marquette has far better guard play with reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek (11.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, 1.8 spg) running the point and Kam Jones averaging 16.0 ppg on 47/40/77 shooting splits. This is an experienced Golden Eagles squad that can score in transition but also thrives in the half-court with movement and spacing. With Shaka Smart at the helm, they're also good enough defensively to win games when their shots aren't falling. 

Given how good this Marquette team is, they shouldn't be catching 3.5 points against anybody in the country on a neutral court, let alone a flawed Purdue squad coming off a bruising battle against Tennessee.

My best bet: Marquette +3.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

Purdue vs Marquette same-game parlay

Marquette +3.5

Oso Ighodaro Over 6.5 rebounds

Lance Jones Under 1.5 made threes

+550 at DraftKings

For the Golden Eagles to cover or pull off another upset, they'll need to compete on the glass with Edey and the Boilermakers. That starts with Ighodaro, who snagged nine boards last night and has pulled down at least seven in five of his last six games.

It will also be crucial for them to force Purdue's guards into another poor shooting performance from the outside. That includes Lance Jones, who went 1-for-3 from beyond the arc last night and has hit more than 1.5 treys in just one of five games this year.

Jones knocked down 2.1 three-pointers per game last year with Southern Illinois but he converted them at just a 28% clip. He's not going to get the same volume of attempts on Purdue (he had just four total field-goal attempts in 31 minutes vs. Tennessee) especially if he performs as inconsistently as he has so far.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Purdue vs Marquette spread and Over/Under analysis

This line hit the board with Purdue at -4.5 and the total at 143. Early money has come in on Marquette and the Under with the spread now at -3.5 and the total as low as 141.5 at some books. 

The Golden Eagles won the Big East last year and were the No. 2 seed in the East Region before getting upset by Michigan State in the second round. They entered this season with title aspirations after losing just one rotation player from that squad.

They've gone 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS this year and while they failed to cover as 6-point faves in their close opening round win against UCLA they easily covered as 4-point dogs in that double-digit victory against Kansas. 

Purdue won the Big Ten last season before getting upset by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in a March Madness shocker. The Boilermakers also returned virtually their entire squad as well but need more consistency from sophomore guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith. They've gone 4-1 ATS this year and while they failed to cover against Xavier they still beat them by 12 points. 

Purdue vs Marquette betting trend to know

Maquette has gone 7-2-1 ATS as an underdog since the start of last season. Find more college basketball betting trends for Purdue vs. Marquette.

Purdue vs Marquette game info

Purdue vs Marquette key injuries

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