The Purdue Boilermakers will start their 2025-26 campaign against the Evansville Purple Aces this Tuesday at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, at 6:30 p.m. ET. Purdue comes from a positive season last year, in which they finished as the 14th-best team in the nation according to the AP Poll, and they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen phase. Their Big Ten tournament participation was more disappointing, as they fell in the quarterfinals stage. Their overall record was 24-12 (13-7 Big Ten).
The Purple Aces come from an altogether different experience. They finished their season 11-21 with a Missouri Valley Conference mark of 8-12. They fell in the opening round of the MVC tournament.
One of these teams will look to improve over last year’s performance, while the other certainly doesn’t even want to remember last season. Here are their expected lineups for tonight.
Projected Starting Lineups For Purdue vs. Evansville
Purdue Expected Starting Lineup
Guard: Braden Smith
Guard: C.J. Cox
Guard: Fletcher Loyer
Forward: Trey Kaufman-Renn
Center: Oscar Cluff
This was the starting lineup the Purdue Boilermakers had in their last exhibition game against the University of Indianapolis; they’re expected to repeat it for their season opener tonight.
Evansville Expected Starting Lineup
Guard: Keishon Porter
Guard/Forward: Leif Moeller
Forward: AJ Casey
Forward: Joshua Hughes
Forward/Center: Alex Hemenway
As the Purdue Boilermakers, the Evansville Purple Aces are expected to have the same lineup that they had in their exhibition game which was a 90-74 victory over Henderson St.
Purdue vs. Evansville Injury Report
Neither team has significant injuries to report, so they’re expected to start their seasons at full strength tonight at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
Purdue vs. Evansville prediction
Purdue is by far and away the clear favorite for tonight’s game. According to ESPN Bet, they’re -35.5 point favorites. Whether or not they will cover the spread is another matter. ESPN’s game predictor is as confident in a Boilermaker victory as the bookies, giving them a 98.2% chance of victory. The over and under are set at 150.5.
Traditional predictions also point to a heavy Purdue victory, based on how both programs performed last season.
Prediction:
Purdue 95-40 Evansville
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