Penn State Nittany Lions vs Northwestern Wildcats Prediction, 1/29/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Penn State Nittany Lions vs Northwestern Wildcats

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL

TV: Peacock

The Penn State Nittany Lions (9-11) are traveling to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday where they will try to beat the Northwestern Wildcats (9-11).

The Penn State Nittany Lions faced Ohio State and took a loss by a score of 84-78 in their last contest. Penn State finished with a 50.0% field goal percentage (25 of 50) and converted 10 of 25 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Nittany Lions buried 18 of 21 shots for a percentage of 85.7%. In regard to rebounding, they earned a total of 29 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 12 dimes for the game while forcing 9 turnovers and having 3 steals. Pertaining to defending, Penn State let their opponent shoot 55.6% from the field on 30 out of 54 shooting. Ohio State doled out 14 dimes and had 9 steals for the game. Furthermore, Ohio State pulled down 20 rebounds (5 offensive, 15 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Ohio State finished shooting 76.2% when shooting free throws by knocking down 16 of 21 attempts. They knocked down 8 of their 23 shots from distance. In the matter of personal fouls, the Nittany Lions ended up finishing with 19 while Ohio State had 19 personal fouls.

Eli Rice is someone who was a major contributor for the contest. He shot 50.0% from the field but had no assists when the time ran out. He was on the hardwood for 34 minutes played and pulled down 2 boards. He finished with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

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Penn State will enter this contest with a win-loss mark of 9-11 this year. They lose possession by turning the ball over 9.6 times per contest and as a team they commit 15.5 fouls every game. As a team, Penn State is collecting 30.7 rebounds per contest and has racked up 265 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 265th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Nittany Lions are connecting on 33.3% on 3-point shots (155 of 466) and 74.2% from the free throw line. They average 76.6 points per outing (185th in college hoops) while connecting on 46.8% from the floor.

When they are on the defensive end, the Nittany Lions are able to force 12.6 turnovers per game and they draw 17.3 fouls. They give up 37.7% on 3-pointers and they are 287th in college hoops in PPG allowed (77.8). The Nittany Lions are allowing a shooting percentage of 48.8% (563 of 1,154) and they relinquish 33.3 boards per contest as a team. They currently rank 312th in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 320 conceded for the year.

For their last game, the Northwestern Wildcats took a defeat with a final score of 71-64 against UCLA. Concerning cleaning up the glass, Northwestern allowed UCLA to snag 29 in all (7 on the offensive side). They finished 44.4% from three-point range via 8 out of 18 and ended up going 11 out of 21 from the charity stripe (52.4%). The Wildcats permitted UCLA to knock down 26 out of their 53 attempts from the floor which had them at 49.1% in this game. Overall, the Wildcats finished shooting 20 for 53 from the field which gave them a percentage of 37.7%. In regard to shots from 3-point land, Northwestern made 7 out of 23 attempts (30.4%). They were able to knock down 17 of the free throw tries for a clip of 85.0%. UCLA was called for 13 fouls in this contest which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 20 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 9 times, while getting 3 steals for the matchup. The Wildcats were able to corral 21 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 29 in this game.

Nick Martinelli ended up having an impact for the Wildcats for this contest. He made 8 of 19 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 42.1%, and accounted for 8 rebounds. He tallied 20 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and had 2 assists in this matchup.

Northwestern has a win-loss record of 9-11 on the year. On the offensive side of the court, the Wildcats are shooting 46.5% from the floor, which ranks them 120th in the country. Northwestern has totaled 1,530 pts so far this season (76.5 per game) and they pull in 33.1 rebounds per contest. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 17.8 times per contest (22nd in college) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 8.4 times per contest. The Wildcats commit 18.2 personal fouls per game while shooting 74.5% from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats are ranked 125th in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 71.7. They are forcing their opponents into 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 42.6% from the field (119th in the nation). The Northwestern defense gives up 30.6% on three-point shots (139 of 454) and opponents are connecting on 71.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 14.9 dimes and 35.2 total rebounds per game, which ranks 289th and 217th in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Penn State

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