Northwestern Wildcats vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 1/2/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northwestern Wildcats vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Thursday, January 2, 2025

Location: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA

TV: Peacock

Bryce Jordan Center is the location where the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) will try to beat the Northwestern Wildcats (10-3) on Thursday.

The Northwestern Wildcats stepped onto the hardwood against Northeastern and earned the victory with a final of 85-60 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Wildcats left the arena with 13 and Northeastern accounted for 19 personal fouls. They converted 9 of 22 shots from beyond the arc. Northeastern finished the contest at 75.0% from the free throw line by making 3 of their 4 attempts. In addition, Northeastern pulled down 22 boards (5 offensive, 17 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Northeastern totaled 15 assists and had 3 steals for this game. Concerning defense, Northwestern allowed 51.1% from the floor on 24 of 47 shooting. They also dished out 17 dimes for this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 21 turnovers and getting 15 steals. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 25 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 16 of 22 attempts for a rate of 72.7%. Northwestern finished the contest having earned a 53.6% FG percentage (30 of 56) and made 9 out of their 25 shots from 3-point land.

Ty Berry is one guy who played a role for the game. He shot 80.0% from the floor and also earned 2 assists. He was on the hardwood for 32 minutes played and grabbed 3 rebounds. He finished with 23 points on 8 out of 10 shooting.

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Northwestern enters this matchup with a record of 10-3 this season. They are turning it over 8.9 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Northwestern is pulling in 35.5 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 193 dimes on the year, which ranks 149th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Wildcats are shooting 33.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (79 of 236) and 71.9% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 74.6 points per contest (212th in the nation) while hitting 45.2% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Wildcats are able to force 14.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.4 personal fouls. They rank 288th in college hoops in giving up assists with 193 surrendered so far this year. The Wildcats defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.2% (299 of 709) and they relinquish 33.2 boards per contest as a group. They are giving up 32.5% from beyond the arc while they are 33rd in D-1 in PPG allowed (63.8).

The last time they took the court, the Penn State Nittany Lions went home victorious with a score of 86-66 when they faced Penn. The Nittany Lions snagged 26 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 38 in this matchup. They turned the ball over 8 times, while earning 7 steals for the game. Penn had 24 fouls for the matchup which got the Nittany Lions to the free throw line for 26 shots. They were able to bury 22 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 84.6%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, Penn State buried 4 out of their 18 attempts (22.2%). When all was said and done, the Nittany Lions finished shooting 30 out of 66 from the floor which had them shooting 45.5%. The Nittany Lions permitted Penn to knock down 22 of 57 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 38.6% for this contest. They finished 33.3% from 3-point land by shooting 11 of 33 and ended up going 11 out of 12 from the free throw line (91.7%). In relation to cleaning the glass, Penn State permitted Penn to snag 28 overall (6 on the offensive side).

Ace Baldwin Jr. pitched in for the Nittany Lions for this game. He made 5 out of 13 for this contest for a rate of 38.5%, and tallied 4 rebounds. He recorded 23 points in his 37 mins of playing time and had 10 dimes in this contest.

Penn State has a win-loss record of 11-2 for the year. The Nittany Lions have committed 16.8 personal fouls every game while shooting 75.6% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 18.8 times per game (8th in D-1) and they cough up possession 11.3 times per game. Penn State has 1,147 points so far this year (88.2 per contest) and they collect 37.5 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Nittany Lions are hitting on 50.4% from the floor, which ranks 17th in college.

The Penn State defense concedes 32.3% on 3-point attempts (96 of 297) and their opposition makes 69.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 14.8 dimes and 32.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 299th and 76th in college hoops. The Nittany Lions on the defensive side of the court are 80th in the country in points per game surrendered with 67.0. They have forced 17.2 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.1% from the field (134th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Northwestern

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