College Basketball Odds - Purdue at Wisconsin

Raise your hand if 10 games into the Big Ten season, you had predicted that Purdue and Wisconsin would be tied atop the conference at 9-1?

I didn't think so.

Tonight in Madison, the No. 8 Badgers (19-3) host the surprising No. 24 Boilermakers (18-5) for outright first place in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin, a 10-point favorite tonight on WagerWeb.com, has won eight straight at home over Purdue since the Boilermakers last won there on Feb. 7, 1996. Those eight victories have come by an average of 14.4 points. And the Badgers are a whopping 51-2 at home under coach Bo Ryan - Wisconsin is 140-18 in the Kohl Center, which opened in 1998. The Boilermakers' average margin of defeat there is 13.7 points and Purdue averages only 55 points in the building.

But Purdue is the only Big Ten team to defeat the Badgers this season, winning 60-56 at home on Jan. 26. Freshman guard E'Twaun Moore scored 16 points in that contest as the Boilermakers ended Wisconsin's 10-game winning streak, holding the Badgers to a season low in points and a then-conference low 38.5 percent shooting."They're one of the more physical defensive teams in the league," UW assistant Gary Close said. "That goes way back to the Gene Keady-coached Purdue teams. And (Illinois coach) Bruce Weber and (Purdue coach) Matt Painter played and coached under (Keady) so it's a duplicate of that. They've always been physical and they hope that people can't handle that."

The Badgers have the stingiest defense in the country, allowing 54.1 points per game. Their opponents are also shooting just 37.9 percent from the field. In the last three games, all wins, the Badgers have held their opponents to 34.6 percent shooting and 50 points per game.

Purdue, meanwhile, has won eight straight since losing 78-75 at then-No. 6 Michigan State on Jan. 8, including a 67-53 victory over Penn State on Tuesday. It's Purdue's first eight-game Big Ten winning streak since the 1999-2000 season.

"We have beaten some tough teams," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "I'm proud of our staff and players, and we're going to stay the course. It's not a 10-game conference season. We have a lot of basketball left to play."

Freshmen have been the leaders for Purdue. Moore averages 11.2 points, while fellow freshman Robbie Hummel averages 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 49 percent shooting from the floor, 45.5 percent from 3-point range and 84.8 percent from the line.

The Boilermakers are 1-25 in road games against ranked teams since Jan. 29, 2000. They have lost 15 straight on the road to Top 25 squads, beginning with an 82-46 defeat to then-No. 22 Wisconsin on Feb. 29, 2004.

Look for Wisconsin to attack Purdue inside with forward Brian Butch, who scored 20 points in the first meeting and had 13 rebounds. Purdue, meanwhile, is a trapping team that will try to force turnovers.

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