Dave's College Basketball Picks, March 8: No. 19 Purdue at No. 8 Michigan State

No. 19 Purdue (22-8, 11-6) at No. 8 Michigan State (24-5, 14-3)

Line: Michigan State -6.5

Purdue has a half game lead over Illinois for second place following Purdue’s defeat to Northwestern on Wednesday. The 64-61 defeat to the Wildcats may have cost the Boilermakers the outright second place finish since they now have to go on the road to frontrunner Michigan State.

Michigan State escaped Assembly Hall with a 64-59 victory against Indiana on Tuesday. The win was the fourth in a row for the Spartans who have the Big Ten regular season crown wrapped up. Although the win gave Tim Izzo a conference championship, it is going to cost him some hair. To fulfill a promise he made to the Michigan State students, Izzo will be shaving his head after the NCAA tourney.

ATS

Purdue is 13-14 against the spread, including 3-6 on the road

Purdue is 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 matchups against Michigan State

Michigan State is 14-12 against the spread, including 7-9 at home

A win for either team doesn’t do much as far as the Big Ten Conference. Neither team will be playing on Thursday and both will play Friday will little difference in possible opponents based on this games outcome.

Purdue completely dominated Michigan State in the first match up and I expect a very slight Michigan State letdown after securing the conference title already. Both teams are playing for NCAA tourney seeds, but with the Big Ten tourney, it doesn’t all rest on this game.

Dave’s Pick: Purdue +6.5

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