We’re in the home stretch of the college basketball regular season, and tonight’s big matchup features the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (14-15, 7-11 Big 10) traveling to Mackey Arena to face the No. 18 ranked Purdue Boilermakers (20-9, 12-6 Big 10).
Rutgers needs some help to make the NCAA Tournament this season. The Scarlett Knights have lost four of their past six games, and the school needs to right their ship now and make a run in the Big Ten Conference Tournament to have a chance at playing in the premier postseason tournament.
Purdue is a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament, but the Boilermakers can improve their seeding by winning out and making a deep run in the conference postseason tournament. Can Purdue extend their winning streak, or will Rutgers start one of their own? We’ll cover that and provide our three favorite player prop bets for Tuesday’s game below.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights F Ace Bailey OVER 15.5 Points
One of the best freshman players in the country called New Jersey his home this winter. Ace Bailey has been a beast for the Scarlet Knights as the forward has scored 18.2 points, grabbed 7.3 rebounds, and dished out 1.3 assists per game this year.
Bailey has been a man possessed at times this season, recording 30-plus points on three different occasions. And as freshmen tend to do, he’s also been a non-factor at other times. With Rutgers playing for their postseason lives, expect him to contribute with at least 16 points in Tuesday’s contest to cover this player prop bet.
Purdue Boilermakers F Trey Kaufman-Renn OVER 22.5 Points
Purdue’s leading man this season is Trey Kaufman-Renn. The junior forward is pouring in 19.6 points per game, adding 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per outing, too. The 6-foot-9 player is 10th in the country, having made 61 percent of his field goals through 29 outings.
In nine of his past 11 games, Kaufman-Renn has scored at least 20 points, eclipsing the 22-point mark eight times. He played only 20 minutes against Rutgers, and he was held to just 16 points. Expect him to do significantly better than that tonight and cover this scoring prop bet.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights G Dylan Harper UNDER 21.5 Pts + Ast
Local product Dylan Harper has been a one-man show this season. The 6-foot-6 freshman has poured in 19.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per night for the Scarlet Knights, belying his freshman status with strong games.
Harper has been on fire as of late, scoring over 25 points and handing out more than four assists per game during Rutgers’ last three outings. While he’ll flirt with this player prop bet, bettors should take the under as Purdue held him to 12 total points and assists during the teams’ first matchup.
Best Bet: Purdue (-11.5)
In the first matchup between these two teams, Purdue led from start to finish, extending their nine-point half-time lead by the same margin in the second half to win 68-50. That was two months ago when Purdue was off to a red-hot start.
Although the Boilermakers have sputtered recently, Purdue is still the stronger team. Bettors should have confidence that Purdue will win Tuesday’s game by 12 points to cover the spread.
