Penn State Nittany Lions vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, 1/15/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Penn State Nittany Lions vs Michigan State Spartans

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Location: Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI

TV: BTN

The Penn State Nittany Lions (12-5) are hitting the road to Breslin Center on Wednesday where they will try to beat the Michigan State Spartans (14-2).

The Penn State Nittany Lions faced off with Oregon and took a loss by a final of 82-81 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Nittany Lions ended up walking away with 15 and Oregon accounted for 11 personal fouls. They also made 8 of their 22 tries from 3-point range. Oregon finished the game at 63.2% when shooting free throws by burying 12 of their 19 attempts. Furthermore, Oregon snagged 28 boards (6 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Oregon recorded 22 dimes and had 8 steals for the matchup. When talking about the defense, Penn State allowed 54.4% from the field on 31 of 57 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and earning 9 steals. With respect to pulling down boards, they earned 32 with 12 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Nittany Lions converted 12 of 14 attempts for a percentage of 85.7%. Penn State wrapped up the contest having earned a 45.6% field goal percentage (31 of 68) and knocked down 7 of their 19 shots from distance.

Freddie Dilione V is a player who was a major factor for this contest. He accounted for 21 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He played for 24 mins and snagged 2 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and earned 1 assist.

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Penn State will enter this game with a win-loss mark of 12-5 so far this season. They currently have an average of 84.4 points per outing (21st in D-1) while hitting 48.6% from the floor. The Nittany Lions are shooting 33.5% on shots from downtown (119 of 355) and 75.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Penn State is collecting 36.2 boards per game and has 290 assists for the year, which has them ranked 29th in college hoops in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.6 times per contest and as a unit are committing 16.7 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions are able to force 16.4 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 20.1 personal fouls. They concede 32.7% on three-point shots and they are ranked 158th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (70.6). The Nittany Lions are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.4% (431 of 994) and they relinquish 33.9 rebounds per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 335th in the country in giving up assists to the opposition with 270 surrendered so far this year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Michigan State Spartans took home the win by a final score of 78-68 when they played Northwestern. The Spartans were able to snag 23 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 31 for the contest. They turned it over 9 times, while getting 8 steals in this matchup. Northwestern committed 21 personal fouls for this game which took the Spartans to the free throw line for a total of 27 tries. They were able to convert 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 74.1%. In the matter of shots from distance, Michigan State made 4 of their 8 tries (50.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Spartans finished shooting 27 out of 54 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.0%. The Spartans permitted Northwestern to knock down 21 of 59 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 35.6% in the matchup. They wrapped up this game 20.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 5 of 25 and walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 27 at the free throw line (77.8%). With respect to rebounding, Michigan State allowed Northwestern to grab 29 in total (13 on the offensive side).

Jaden Akins ended up being a major contributor for the Spartans for the matchup. He totaled 14 points in his 26 mins on the hardwood and had 1 assist for the matchup. He converted 3 of 11 in the game for a rate of 27.3%, and had 1 rebound.

Michigan State has a mark of 14-2 on the campaign. The Spartans are responsible for committing 16.1 personal fouls per game and they shoot 81.5% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 18.3 times per contest (12th in the country) and they are turning it over 12.4 times per contest. Michigan State has accounted for 1,301 points on the year (81.3 per contest) and they snag 41.1 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Spartans are hitting on 47.8% from the field, which is 58th in the country.

The Michigan State defense surrenders 28.6% on shots from 3-point land (109 of 381) and their opponents are converting on 69.8% of their free throw shots. They have given up 12.8 dimes and 30.4 boards per contest, which has them ranked 165th and 16th in college hoops. The Spartans are ranked 49th in college in PPG given up with 66.0. They are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.2% from the floor (29th in Division 1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Penn State

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