It’s an important game in the Big Ten on Thursday for disappointing Michigan as the Wolverines are on the NCAA Tournament bubble when they host Big Ten leader and national championship contender Purdue, ranked third in the nation. The Boilers will be short favorites but we may smell an upset as the teams play for the second time in less than a week.

This will wrap up the season series between these teams, although they obviously could meet in next month’s Big Ten Tournament. This matchup in Ann Arbor was to be played on Jan. 11 but was postponed due to COVID issues within the Michigan program. They played on Saturday at Purdue and the Boilers won 82-76 to snap a five-game losing streak in the series. The victory gave the senior class (Sasha Stefanovic, Eric Hunter Jr., Trevion Williams) at least one win over every Big Ten school.

Purdue’s big three of Jaden Ivey, Zach Edey and Trevion Williams combined for 55 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists. It marks the second-most combined points the trio has scored this season. Ivey scored 23 points with a career-high tying seven assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block. Williams scored 19 points with eight rebounds. Since the start of his sophomore season, Williams is averaging 22.4 points and 10.1 rebounds against the Big Ten’s Michigan schools.

Hunter Dickinson led U-M with career-best-tying 28 points, his sixth 20+ point game over his last seven contests. DeVante’ Jones had 13 points and Caleb Houstan had 11. Michigan shot 55.1 percent from the field, while Purdue shot 52 percent. Purdue’s rebounding advantage (32 to 22) and inside scoring led to 44 points in the paint, while the Maize and Blue had 26 down low.

Get a lowdown of important details, NCAAB betting odds, trends for these two Big Ten programs, and predictions before making your bets at NitroBetting sportsbook.

Purdue vs. Michigan Game Information

Just got word! The ticket office has a few remaining lower & upper bowl tickets for the battle with No. 3 Purdue TOMORROW night at Crisler! You in?

Get them while they last:
? Ticket | https://t.co/EGK2s9OBj1

〽️? | #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Jo1RdmDqn2

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) February 9, 2022

• When: Thursday, February 10, 2022, 9:00 PM ET
• Where: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, MI
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: WAZY 96.5 FM (Purdue) / WWJ-AM 950 (Michigan)
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• NCAAB Betting Odds: Purdue (+11.5) / Michigan (-11.5)

Why Bet on the Purdue Boilermakers?

Purdue (21-3, 10-3 Big Ten) completed a season sweep of an excellent Illinois team on Tuesday, 84-68. The Boilermakers have won 37 straight games when scoring 80 or more points.

The 16-point margin was the largest win at Mackey Arena between two ranked teams since Feb. 1, 2017, when No. 23 Purdue beat No. 25 Northwestern 80-59. It was the largest victory margin for a Purdue ranked team against a ranked opponent since a 23-point win over No. 2 Arizona on Nov. 24, 2017 (Bahamas).

Ivey led the team in points with 26, 22 of which came in the second half. During a second-half run of seven minutes, Ivey scored or assisted on 19 of Purdue’s 21 points to take a 73-56 lead. Over his last four games, Ivey is averaging 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. He has 19 turnovers against 9 turnovers in that span.

The Boilermakers have won six straight games, four of them coming by double-digits. The Boilermakers have scored 80 or more points in six straight Big Ten games for the first time since the 1997-98 season (7 straight games).

Why Bet on the Michigan Wolverines?

Michigan (12-9, 6-5 Big Ten) could not afford to lose Tuesday at Penn State and escaped 58-57 despite trailing by 11 midway through the first half but tied it by intermission. While U-M made just five field goals, it used a 14-for-16 second-half free-throw performance to help it hold the lead over the final 20 minutes for its sixth conference win. The Wolverines held the Nittany Lions to just seven field goals in the second half.

Michigan only made 31.5 percent of its field goals overall, its lowest shooting percentage in a win since 2007. The Wolverines made their shots from the charity stripe count, going 19-for-22 (86.4%). Dickinson led U-M with his sixth double-double — 19 points and tying a career-best with 15 rebounds. Dickinson has a team-best seven games with 10-plus field goals as he is shooting 60.1 percent from the field, which is second in the Big Ten and 11th nationally.

In U-M’s final nine Big Ten games of the 2021-22 season, the Wolverines are set to face six nationally ranked foes. Thus, if they can win at least five of them they should be in good shape for the NCAA Tournament.

Purdue vs. Michigan Betting Trends

• Purdue is 6-3 ATS in the last 9 games.
• Purdue is 6-0 SU in the last 6 games.
• The total went over in 5 of Purdue’s last 5 games.
• Michigan is 1-4 ATS in the last 5 games.
• Michigan is 5-2 SU in the last 7 games.
• The total went in 6 of Michigan’s last 7 games.

Purdue vs. Michigan Expert Betting Prediction

Michigan to cover (it will be an underdog) and perhaps win outright.

This is just one of the many sports betting guides that you can read here at NitroBetting news. Stay tuned for more NCAAB game previews and articles and don’t forget to check out the latest Basketball betting odds on the sportsbook.

*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.