The first double-digit seed to win their way into the second round of the NCAA Tournament was the McNeese Cowboys. On Saturday, they will face the Purdue Boilermakers with a chance to get into the Sweet 16. Despite plenty of distractions surrounding the McNeese program going into this McNeese vs Purdue matchup, McNeese has proven that they can hang with a team from a power conference and will look to do so for the second game in a row.
Ahead of this Round of 32 matchup, Purdue is favored by 5.5 points according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The total for this contest has been set at 142.5. Continue reading to get our thoughts on this matchup between teams from the Southland Conference and the Big Ten as the Cowboys look to pull off another tournament upset.
McNeese Looks to Complete Another Upset
The McNeese Cowboys were underdogs against the Clemson Tigers in the opening round of this year’s NCAA Tournament. But they looked like they were the power conference team in that game, getting off to a flying start and just holding on for a two-point win. Now McNeese will look to pull off a second straight upset to get to the Sweet 16 as a 12-seed in their region.
Perhaps more impressive than the fact that McNeese won their first-round game is the circumstances under which they did so. Reports came out that their head coach Will Wade is leaving the program after this tournament to coach NC State. But his team showed a ton of heart in playing hard in spite of that and they will likely bring the same tenacity to this matchup with Purdue.
Purdue Looks to Hold Off Second Double-Digit Seed
The Purdue Boilermakers won by double-digits over High Point in the first round of their NCAA Tournament. Purdue’s defense was excellent in that game, holding a potent High Point offense to one of its worst offensive outputs of the season. Here, another defensive masterclass might be needed if Purdue is going to advance to the second weekend of the tourney.
For Purdue, the key to this game is going to be keeping McNeese off of the offensive glass. The Cowboys were able to build a lead and build a ton of confidence by getting second chance points against Clemson in the first round. If Purdue can prevent that, they will give themselves a much better chance to advance here.
McNeese vs Purdue Prediction
Purdue -6.5 (-110) over McNeese
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- Purdue is much better on the glass than Clemson was in the fourst round of this tournament and we expect that to prevent McNeese from getting going.
- Purdue has a huge experience edge in the tournament that should benefit them here.
