Purdue vs. Marquette prediction: College basketball odds, picks, best bets Tuesday

Just days after a heroic nine-point victory over the then second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, the Purdue Boilermakers will be tasked with heading north to Milwaukee for a duel with the 15th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles.

Can Purdue find a way to add another significant, early-season win to its resume or will the Shaka Smart-led Golden Eagles stay undefeated and improve to 5-0?

Purdue vs. Marquette odds

(9:00 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1)

Purdue vs. Marquette prediction

Purdue, which 2-2 against the spread (ATS), is a 4.5-point road dog against Marquette (3-1 ATS) at Fiserv Forum.

The Boilermakers’ last game against Alabama proved their success is not solely reliant on having a generationally dominant big man like Zach Edey, who won back-to-back Wooden Awards.

Meanwhile, Marquette also had its first real test of the season, securing a narrow four-point road win against the Maryland Terrapins.

Offensively, Maryland is far from a juggernaut. However, the Terrapins have the 12th-ranked defense (adjD per KenPom) nationally. 

Marquette still posted 78 points on 45% shooting against Maryland, while committing just eight turnovers.

The Golden Eagles’ five returners — Kam Jones, David Joplin, Stevie Mitchell, Ben Gold and Chase Ross — have been vital over the past two seasons and will continue to be so during their 2024-25 campaign.

So, was Purdue’s home win firm proof that it will again be a championship contender? And can the Boilers sneak out yet another top-25 win?

Purdue vs. Marquette pick

I don’t think the Boilermakers’ win over Alabama tells the whole story of what to expect from them this season.

Purdue looked unconvincing in its first three non-conference games, narrowly squeaking by Yale and only pulling away from Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in the final six minutes.

The Boilers are still without 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen, who sustained a season-ending injury against Northern Kentucky. 

This means they will either have to play small-ball lineups with Kaufman-Renn at center or roll out backup center Will Berg.

The problem is that Berg struggles to play quickly, and Marquette likes to get out in transition (94th in adjusted tempo) and has the personnel to do it.

The Golden Eagles have more scoring weapons, as displayed in the fact that Purdue’s two starters not only didn’t score against Alabama but also did not attempt one shot.

Purdue won’t hit 56.3% of its 3s again against a rock-solid Marquette perimeter defense, which holds opponents to just 28.4% shooting from deep on its home floor.

Additionally, the Boilermakers have very little rim protection, allowing Marquette to back-cut, slash and dribble-drive at will in its five-out motion offense.

While Marquette hasn’t shot the ball well from deep thus far, it can get hot. 

What better time to do that than against a 61st-ranked Purdue defense (KenPom) that allowed Alabama many wide-open 3-point attempts?

Best Bet: Marquette -4.5 (-108, FanDuel)

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Andrew Norton handicaps the NBA, WNBA, NFL, college basketball and football, UFC and golf. During the 2022-23 NBA season, he achieved a standout 14.1% ROI, cashing 60% of his NBA spread picks and leading Tallysight in its SportsIQ metric.