Bucknell Bison vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 12/2/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Bucknell Bison vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Saturday, December 2, 2023

Location: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA

TV: BTN

The Bucknell Bison (2-7) are traveling to Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3).

The Bucknell Bison played Princeton and went home with a loss by a final score of 85-71 in their last contest. Bucknell wrapped up the contest with a 51.0% FG percentage (25 of 49) and buried 9 out of their 18 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Bison buried 12 of their 15 attempts for a percentage of 80.0%. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they collected 21 with 4 of them being offensive. They also doled out 12 assists for this contest while forcing 4 turnovers and earning 2 steals. When discussing defending, Bucknell allowed the other team to shoot 58.9% from the field on 33 out of 56 shooting. Princeton totaled 20 dimes and had 6 steals in this game. In addition, Princeton pulled down 20 rebounds (2 offensive, 18 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Princeton finished 81.8% from the free throw line by burying 9 of their 11 attempts. They also knocked down 10 of their 23 shots from downtown. Regarding fouls, the Bison ended up finishing with 13 while Princeton had 13 fouls.

Jack Forrest is one guy who was a factor for the contest. He finished 50.0% from the field and also distributed 3 dimes. He played for 36 mins and snagged 6 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting.

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Bucknell will take the court with a record of 2-7 on the campaign. They are averaging 61.8 pts per game (348th in Division 1) while connecting on 40.3% from the floor. The Bison are connecting on 32.1% from downtown (70 of 218) and 72.4% from the free throw line. As a unit, Bucknell is pulling in 29.0 boards per contest and has earned 102 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 129th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 13.4 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.9 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Bison have forced 11.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.0 personal fouls. They rank 361st in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 148 relinquished on the season. The Bison defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 47.2% (240 of 508) and they concede 35.0 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are relinquishing 37.3% from beyond the arc and they are 235th in college hoops in points per game allowed (73.6).

In their last game, the Penn State Nittany Lions took a defeat with a final score of 86-74 when they faced VCU. The Nittany Lions corralled 21 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 27 for the game. They gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while getting 8 steals for this game. VCU earned 24 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Nittany Lions to the free throw line for 35 attempts. They were able to convert 23 of the free throw tries for a rate of 65.7%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Penn State converted 5 of their 17 attempts (29.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Nittany Lions walked away from this one shooting 23 out of 52 from the field which gave them a rate of 44.2%. The Nittany Lions permitted VCU to convert 28 of 52 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 53.8% for this contest. They finished shooting 53.3% from beyond the arc by connecting on 8 of 15 and ended up going 22 of 28 at the free throw line (78.6%). In the matter of team rebounding, Penn State allowed VCU to get 31 in all (6 on the offensive side).

Ace Baldwin ended up being a major contributor for the Nittany Lions in this matchup. He recorded 27 points in his 40 mins on the court and accounted for 5 dimes for the game. He converted 8 of 19 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 42.1%, and added 3 rebounds.

Penn State has a win-loss record of 4-3 on the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Nittany Lions are hitting on 43.8% from the field, which is ranked 217th in college basketball. Penn State has accumulated 539 pts for the season (77.0 per game) and they collect 34.6 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 10.0 times per contest (342nd in D-1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.7 times per contest. The Nittany Lions are responsible for committing 16.7 fouls per contest and they hit 71.7% from the charity stripe.

The Nittany Lions on defense are ranked 127th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 68.1. They are forcing 17.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.0% from the field (205th in college basketball). The Penn State defense allows 28.5% on shots from 3-point land (35 of 123) and opponents are converting on 76.2% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 10.7 dimes and 37.9 rebounds every game, which is 76th and 289th in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Bucknell

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