North Carolina Central Eagles vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 12/29/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Central Eagles vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Monday, December 29, 2025

Location: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA

TV: BTN

The North Carolina Central Eagles (4-10) are on their way to Bryce Jordan Center on Monday where they will go up against the Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4).

The North Carolina Central Eagles faced Longwood and took a loss by a score of 74-72 in their last contest. North Carolina Central finished the contest having earned a 45.1% field goal percentage (23 out of 51) and buried 2 out of their 17 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Eagles made 24 of their 30 attempts for a rate of 80.0%. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they compiled 25 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 13 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 18 turnovers and having 11 steals. When discussing the defense, North Carolina Central allowed the other team to shoot 44.8% from the field on 26 out of 58 shooting. Longwood recorded 14 dimes and had 9 steals in the matchup. Moreover, Longwood totaled 37 rebounds (14 offensive, 23 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Longwood shot 70.8% when shooting free throws by burying 17 of 24 tries. They made 5 out of their 24 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Regarding personal fouls, the Eagles ended up finishing with 18 while Longwood accounted for 21 personal fouls.

Gage Lattimore is a guy who was a major factor in the matchup. He was able to score 22 points on 6 out of 15 shooting. He was on the court for 36 mins played and also snagged 1 rebound. He ended up going 40.0% from the floor and also distributed 1 assist.

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North Carolina Central steps onto the court with a record of 4-10 this year. They currently have an average of 72.6 points per outing (290th in the country) while shooting 41.6% from the field. The Eagles are hitting 30.1% on 3-pointers (83 of 276) and 73.6% from the charity stripe. As a team, North Carolina Central is grabbing 33.2 rebounds per game and has totaled 205 assists this year, which ranks 97th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 12.1 times per game and as a squad they commit 19.1 fouls every game.

On defense, the Eagles are able to force 15.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.6 fouls. They rank 341st in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 220 surrendered so far this year. The Eagles defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 45.2% (356 of 787) and they surrender 39.7 rebounds per game as a group. They give up 34.3% from 3-point land and they are ranked 285th in D-1 in points per game allowed (77.7).

For their last game, the Penn State Nittany Lions took a defeat with a final score of 80-46 when they faced Pittsburgh. The Nittany Lions were able to collect 18 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 26 in this game. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while recording 5 steals for this contest. Pittsburgh committed 15 personal fouls for the game which took the Nittany Lions to the charity stripe for a total of 9 shots. They were able to make 6 of those for a clip of 66.7%. When talking about three-point attempts, Penn State converted 4 out of 23 attempts (17.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Nittany Lions shot 18 out of 55 from the field which gave them a percentage of 32.7%. The Nittany Lions permitted Pittsburgh to make 30 out of their 60 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 50.0% in the game. They went 50.0% from distance by shooting 12 out of 24 and finished the game at 8 of 14 at the free throw line (57.1%). In the matter of cleaning up the glass, Penn State allowed Pittsburgh to get 35 in all (8 on the offensive glass).

Freddie Dilione V pitched in for the Nittany Lions for this game. He racked up 23 points in his 34 mins on the hardwood and had 1 assist for the matchup. He knocked down 10 of 17 for the contest giving him a rate of 58.8%, and had 6 rebounds.

Penn State has a win-loss mark of 8-4 this season. The Nittany Lions are responsible for committing 14.3 personal fouls every game while shooting 71.8% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.4 times per game (259th in the country) and they turn it over 9.1 times per contest. Penn State has accounted for 938 pts so far this season (78.2 per game) and they snag 31.3 boards per contest. When it comes to offense, the Nittany Lions are hitting on 48.2% from the field, which ranks them 73rd in the nation.

The Penn State defense surrenders 37.8% from downtown (113 of 299) and opponents are converting on 77.1% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 16.1 assists and 32.3 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 321st and 83rd in D-1. The Nittany Lions on defense are ranked 222nd in the nation in points given up per game with 74.9. They have forced 13.6 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 47.7% from the floor (329th in college hoops).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Carolina Central

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