USC vs. Purdue Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Friday, Feb. 7

Reed Wallach | Feb 7, 2025

Feb 4, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) reacts during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Purdue will look to continue to keep pace at the top of the Big Ten standings with a home game against USC on Friday night. 

The Boilermakers have won 10 of the last 11 games, placing them right at the top of the conference standings and are double digit favorites to extend its heater against the Trojans, who are stuck in the middle of the league standings and off a close loss at Northwestern. 

What’s the best bet for this Big Ten clash? We have you covered below!

USC vs. Purdue Odds, Spread and Total

Spread

• USC: +13.5 (-102)
• Purdue: -13.5 (-120)

Moneyline

• USC: +800
• Purdue: -1400

Total: 146.5 (Over -105/Under -115)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

USC vs. Purdue How to Watch

• Date: Friday, February 7th
• Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
• Venue: Mackey Arena
• How to Watch (TV): Fox Sports 1
• USC Record: 13-9
• Purdue Record: 18-5

USC vs. Purdue Key Players to Watch 

USC

Wesley Yates: With lead guard Desmond Claude out for the Trojans most recent game due to a bone bruise, and his status up in the air for this one, a ton will fall on Yates. The freshman guard scored 15 points in a more ball-dominant role for the Trojans, but is at his best as a floor spacer. He is shooting 48% from beyond the arc in conference play this season. 

Purdue

Braden Smith: The guard continues to get better as the season goes on. While he is top three in the country in assists per game, Smith’s scoring has taken off in Big Ten play. He is fresh off a 31 point effort against Iowa as he continues to be an excellent two-way threat for the surging Boilermakers. 

USC vs. Purdue Prediction and Pick

The status of Claude is critical for this one as the Trojans are devoid of many elite ball handlers. As of this writing, it’s unclear if the Xavier transfer can go due to a bone bruise. 

Even so, I do like the over in this game. 

Purdue’s defense has upped its aggressiveness this season, leading the Big Ten in turnover percentage to offset its vulnerable front court that is 317th in the country in near-rim field goal percentage, per Haslametrics. 

If the Trojans can get inside, the points should come with ease, even without Claude. The Trojans got timely contributions from Penn transfer Clark Slajchert and the freshman guard Yates against Northwestern and while I think the team is worse without Claude the team can still score. 

Meanwhile, Purdue should have little issue scoring in either transition off of turnovers or with its high powered offense that is leading the Big Ten in effective field goal percentage. 

USC has gone over in eight of its last 10 games while Purdue has gone over in seven of the last 10. I think we see another high scoring affair at Mackey Arena as we await clarity for Claude. 

PICK: OVER 146.5 (available at FanDuel Sportsbook)

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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