Purdue Boilermakers at Virginia Tech Hokies
Saturday, 12/1/10, 7:30 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Virginia Tech -2.5
Current Betting Line: Virginia Tech -2.5
Opening Total: 132
Current Total: 132
Purdue looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Wednesday when it squares off with Virginia Tech as part of the 2010 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Boilermakers are 3-6 in nine Challenge appearances and have not won such a contest on the road. A win on Wednesday wold also be the program’s first win over the Hokies in three tries. It’s important to note that the team is 26-21 following a loss under head coach Matt Painter, as it dropped a 65-54 contest to Richmond on a neutral floor last time out. Purdue did win its first five games by an average of 29.4 points before the 11-point defeat to the Spiders, as the squad made just four first-half field goals in 25 attempts. The team is 4-9-1 ATS in its last 14 games overall and is listed on the NCAA basketball lines page as a slight underdog.
The Boilermakers have a tough stretch to begin the month of December and Painter is not willing to watch the kind of effort his team made last time out in the season’s second month. “I never thought I would have to worry about our guys being outhustled, but Richmond not only outhustled us, they outplayed us and deserved to win,” he commented. Purdue does have a balanced offense to lean upon tonight, with seven different players having turned in a double-digit scoring effort. Offensively, the team is also shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc and has made at least seven trifectas in four of six games.
Virginia Tech enters tonight’s game with a 4-2 overall record and will be meeting the Boilermakers for the first time since December 3, 1966. The Hokies have posted a 16-12 all-time mark against schools currently in the Big Ten Conference. The team suffered a 71-59 setback in its last contest against the UNLV in the championship game of the 76 Classic in Anaheim on Sunday night. Senior guard Malcolm Delaney led all scorers with 30 points and was named to the all-tournament team. This will be the Hokies sixth appearance in the Challenge, posting a 2-3 record in the event, including a 1-1 mark in home games. Virginia Tech is 5-2 ATS after a straight-up loss.
The Hokies have played five straight road games leading up to this home contest, which is the first time since 1995-96 that the program has made such a schedule. Head coach Seth Greenberg will be excited to be under the roof of Cassell Coliseum, producing an 89-27 overall record and 54-7 mark against non-conference competition. Virginia Tech’s weakness early in the season has been its lack of depth, getting just 13 points a game off the bench, which has hurt them against deeper teams like Kansas State and UNLV.
Bettors will be interested to find out that the Boilermakers are 2-6 ATS in their last eight games versus the ACC, while the Hokies are 2-5 ATS Versus the Big Ten.
The college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports are off to a fast start and ready for you to join them today in the winner’s circle!
