Pittsburgh Panthers vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 12/21/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Panthers vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Sunday, December 21, 2025

Location: Giant Center in Hershey, PA

TV: BTN

Giant Center is the location where the Penn State Nittany Lions (8-3) will take on the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-6) on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Panthers took the court against Binghamton and notched a win by a score of 103-63 in their last game. Pittsburgh ended having earned a 62.1% field goal percentage (36 of 58) and buried 16 out of their 27 3-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Panthers converted 15 of 24 attempts for a rate of 62.5%. In relation to grabbing boards, they earned 27 with 6 of them being offensive. They also doled out 20 dimes for this game as well as creating 21 turnovers and having 14 steals. In terms of the defense, Pittsburgh allowed their opponent to shoot 43.9% from the field on 18 of 41 shooting. Binghamton distributed 9 dimes and had 7 steals in the matchup. Additionally, Binghamton pulled down 25 boards (4 offensive, 21 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Binghamton finished the game shooting 77.8% from the charity stripe by making 21 of their 27 attempts. They also knocked down 6 of their 10 shots from 3-point land. In relation to personal fouls, the Panthers ended up with 22 and Binghamton had 18 personal fouls.

Barry Dunning Jr. is a player who was important in this game. He ended up finishing with 23 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 24 minutes and also grabbed 1 rebound. He finished the game shooting 77.8% from the floor and also totaled 1 assist.

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Pittsburgh will take the court with a record of 6-6 for the campaign. They average 73.5 pts per contest (275th in the nation) while hitting 45.3% from the floor. The Panthers are shooting 35.8% on shots from beyond the arc (102 of 285) and 69.3% from the free throw line. As a team, Pittsburgh is snagging 35.7 boards per game and is sitting with 158 assists for the season, which is 229th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They are losing possession via turnover 11.8 times per contest and as a group they are committing 17.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on the defensive end, the Panthers are forcing 10.9 turnovers per game while drawing 16.4 fouls. They currently rank 167th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 150 relinquished for the season. The Panthers defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.4% (285 of 656) and they relinquish 31.3 boards per game as a team. They are relinquishing 35.4% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 101st in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (69.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the Penn State Nittany Lions took a loss by a score of 76-72 against Michigan State. Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Penn State permitted Michigan State to snag 35 overall (8 on the offensive side). They wrapped up this game 55.6% from three-point range via 10 out of 18 and ended up shooting 18 out of 21 at the free throw line (85.7%). The Nittany Lions allowed Michigan State to convert 24 of their 52 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.2% for the contest. Overall, the Nittany Lions shot 28 out of 66 from the field which gave them a percentage of 42.4%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Penn State made 8 of their 29 tries (27.6%). They were able to convert 8 of the free throw tries for a clip of 88.9%. Michigan State had 13 fouls for the game which took the Nittany Lions to the charity stripe for a total of 9 tries. They also coughed up the ball 8 times, while recording 10 steals for the matchup. The Nittany Lions snagged 18 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 26 in the game.

Freddie Dilione V ended up having an impact for the Nittany Lions in this matchup. He made 8 of 15 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 53.3%, and accumulated 1 rebound. He recorded 23 points in his 32 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 3 dimes for this game.

Penn State has a win-loss record of 8-3 so far this year. In terms of offensive execution, the Nittany Lions are shooting 49.5% from the field, which is 39th in the country. Penn State has accounted for 892 pts for the campaign (81.1 per contest) and they grab 31.5 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 14.0 times per contest (225th in the country) and they turn it over 8.8 times per contest. The Nittany Lions commit 14.3 fouls every game and they connect on 72.0% from the free throw line.

The Nittany Lions are ranked 219th in the nation in PPG given up with 74.5. They are forcing 14.0 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 47.5% from the field (335th in the country). The Penn State defense surrenders 36.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter (101 of 275) and opponents are making 78.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 16.2 assists and 31.4 total boards per game, which has them ranked 325th and 53rd in college.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Penn State and under the total points

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