Utah State vs. Purdue: How to watch second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament

How To Watch:

Sunday, March 24th

Utah State vs Purdue (12:40 PM MT) | Coverage: CBS

DraftKings Odds:

Utah State vs. Purdue:

Moneyline: +455 Utah State, -625 Purdue

Line: +11.5 Utah State

O/U: 149.5

(Odds/lines subject to change. Visit DraftKings for more information.)

The Aggies won their first-round matchup on Friday, defeating TCU in a comfortable, 16-point victory. It marked the Aggies’ first NCAA Tournament win since 2000-01, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive losses. Now, the road gets tougher, as they have to take on No. 1 Purdue in an 8-seed versus 1-seed matchup in the Round of 32.

Both teams have high-scoring offenses, though Purdue has the nation’s fourth-most efficient adjusted offense relative to Utah State’s 29th, according to KenPom. This matchup figures to be no different when they take the floor. Each team averages over 80 points a game. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the two teams.

The Boilermakers and Aggies each feature a variety of players who can score, with both teams possessing four players who are averaging double figures. Each of the team’s leading scorers are big men who do a lot of damage inside. Though the advantage figures to go to Purdue, as Zach Edey—a candidate to win the Naismith Player of the Year for the second straight year—is 7-foot-4.

He figures to give the Aggies a lot of fits and it will be vital they don’t get into foul trouble defending him. He’s averaging 24.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks on 62.0 percent shooting and 65.8 percent true-shooting; in Purdue’s opening game against Grambling State, he posted 30 points and 21 rebounds (nine offensive) on 11-of-17 shooting and 8-of-14 shooting from the free-throw line. He’s had 20 games with 25-plus points and eight with 30-plus, so he will almost certainly prove to be a matchup problem against Utah State’s Isaac Johnson and Great Osobor.

Likewise, the Boilermakers are one of the nation’s best rebounding teams—a large part due to Edey; they are a top-20 team on the defensive glass and a top-6 team on the offensive glass, where Utah State ranks outside the top-60 in both categories.

Purdue, the nation’s second-best 3-point shooting team, also possesses better—and more willing—long-point threats, giving them an inside and outside threat that will make it hard for the Aggies to defend. Braden Smith is knocking down 43.9 percent of his long-range attempts; Fletcher Loyer’s shooting 44.8 percent from deep on 3.7 attempts; Mason Gillis, their sixth man, is shooting 47.3 percent from deep on 3.2 attempts. It could turn into a “pick-your-poison” diet defensively for Utah State, who’s No. 3 in the country in defending the 3-point line (29.1 o3P%).

On the other end of the floor, Utah State is only shooting 32.4 percent from deep, which ranks in the bottom third nationally. Point guard Darius Brown II and freshman guard Mason Falslev are potential X-factors; Brown II has a knack for hitting big shots in key moments while being Utah State’s primary floor general, and Falslev can do a bit of everything to impact the game. Both players—plus Johnson, Josh Uduje and Ian Martinez—who need to have big games in order to upset the top-seeded Boilermakers.

This game will likely come down to who can generate more stops and who can stay out of foul trouble on the defensive end. The advantage goes to Purdue, but in March, the gap is closer. Though I think Utah State will come up short this time around. Prediction: Purdue 82, Utah State 74