Queens Royals vs Purdue Boilermakers Prediction, 3/20/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Queens Royals vs Purdue Boilermakers

Date: Friday, March 20, 2026

Location: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: Purdue (-26)

The Queens Royals (21-13) are on their way to Enterprise Center on Friday where they will meet the Purdue Boilermakers (27-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Purdue opens this game as 26-point favorites. The over/under is 163.5.

The Queens Royals faced Central Arkansas and walked away with a win by a score of 98-93 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Royals finished with 18 while Central Arkansas accumulated 21 fouls. They also knocked down 15 out of their 36 tries from distance. Central Arkansas finished the contest at 70.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 14 of their 20 tries. Furthermore, Central Arkansas pulled down 34 rebounds (14 offensive, 20 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Central Arkansas earned 17 dimes and had 13 steals in the game. In terms of defending, Queens allowed their opponent to shoot 42.7% from the floor on 32 out of 75 shooting. They also distributed 19 dimes for this game while forcing 11 turnovers and having 7 steals. Concerning pulling down rebounds, they collected 41 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Royals buried 22 of their 27 tries for a percentage of 81.5%. Queens wrapped up the game with a 46.2% FG percentage (30 of 65) and buried 16 out of their 38 3-point shots.

Chris Ashby is a player who came through for the matchup. He finished 52.6% from the field and also distributed 4 dimes. He saw the court for 43 mins played and also snagged 4 rebounds. He recorded 34 points on 10 of 19 shooting.

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Queens will play this contest with a mark of 21-13 on the campaign. They average 84.9 points per contest (19th in the country) on 48.2% from the field. The Royals are connecting on 36.0% on shots from beyond the arc (346 of 962) and 73.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Queens is pulling in 33.8 boards per game and has tallied 541 assists on the year, which ranks 50th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 10.7 times per game and as a group they commit 19.9 personal fouls per contest.

On defense, the Royals are forcing their opponents into 10.9 turnovers per game and they draw 19.0 fouls. They are giving up 35.4% on 3-point shots while they are 353rd in college hoops in PPG allowed (82.9). The Royals are allowing a field goal percentage of 46.6% (970 of 2,082) and they concede 35.4 boards per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 252nd in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 462 surrendered so far this year.

For their last game, the Purdue Boilermakers got the victory with a final of 80-72 when they faced Michigan. The Boilermakers recorded 18 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards for a total of 25 in this matchup. They turned it over 2 times, while getting 4 steals for the matchup. Michigan committed 18 fouls for this contest which took the Boilermakers to the charity stripe for 22 attempts. They were able to knock down 16 of those for a rate of 72.7%. In terms of 3-point attempts, Purdue made 4 of 14 attempts (28.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Boilermakers shot 30 for 57 from the floor which gave them a rate of 52.6%. The Boilermakers permitted Michigan to convert 30 of 64 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.9% in this matchup. They went 29.2% from behind the 3-point line by hitting 7 of 24 and finished the game at 5 of 6 from the free throw line (83.3%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Purdue allowed Michigan to collect 31 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Oscar Cluff pitched in for the Boilermakers for the contest. He converted 7 of 11 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 63.6%, and tallied 5 rebounds. He had 21 points in his 25 minutes on the court and had 1 assist in this game.

Purdue has a record of 27-8 this year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Boilermakers are hitting on 49.9% from the floor, which is ranked 14th in college. Purdue has accounted for 2,858 points for the season (81.7 per contest) and they pull in 35.4 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 19.9 times per game (3rd in college hoops) and they turn it over 8.9 times per contest. The Boilermakers are committing 14.7 fouls per game while shooting 74.3% from the charity stripe.

The Purdue defense allows 34.2% on three-point shots (306 of 895) and their opponents are making 72.0% of their foul shots. They surrender 14.6 assists and 28.4 boards on a nightly basis, ranking them 274th and 2nd in those categories. The Boilermakers on the defensive side of the court are 77th in Division 1 in PPG given up with 70.1. They are able to force 10.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 44.6% from the field (212th in Division 1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Purdue (-26)

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