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Purdue vs. Maryland prediction and odds for Thursday, February 16

By Josh Yourish

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) boxes out Michigan State Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler (0) during the NCAA men’s basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won 77-61.Purmsumbb012923 Am15680
Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) boxes out Michigan State Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler (0) during the NCAA men’s basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won 77-61.Purmsumbb012923 Am15680 /
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The No. 3 Purdue Boilermakers only have three losses all season, but two of them have come in their last three games.

First on Feb. 4, they suffered a 79-74 loss to Indiana on the road, and then a road trip to Northwestern this past weekend dropped them to 23-3.

That most recent loss was a low-scoring one, 64-58 and the attention turns to their young guards who struggled mightily. They’ll get tested big time on the road tonight.

The rest of the Big Ten around Purdue is down this year and that includes the Maryland Terrapins who have been ranked at times this year, but at 17-8 (8-6) are currently outside the top 25. Last time out they beat Penn State, 74-68 at home.

Despite being the No. 3 team in the country, Purdue is a very small favorite on the road in this Big 10 matchup.

Purdue vs. Maryland odds, spread and total

Purdue vs. Maryland prediction and pick

Every team in the country is eminently flawed, even the true national championship contenders like Purdue.

Yes, the Boilermakers have a dominant force in Zach Edey, but the guys that they’re trusting to get him the ball are two freshmen. Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith make up the starting backcourt for Purdue and they’ve been surprisingly good for most of the year.

However, they’re still very young and their youth showed against Northwestern last weekend.

In that game, Loyer and Smith combined to shoot 2-for-13 from the field and had just 12 points and five assists between them. They had as many turnovers as they had assists and things aren’t going to get any easier in College Park.

The environment will be even tougher than Evanston on a Sunday and they’ll have Jahmir Young on the other side.

Young is averaging 16.2 points, 3.2 assists, and 4.8 rebounds a game for the Terps and Hakim Hart, his backcourt mate, had 23 points, five boards, and four assists against Penn State on Saturday.

Purdue is not to be trusted and I think it’ll get beat for the third time in four games.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change