Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 2/18/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Location: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA

TV: BTN

Bryce Jordan Center is where the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-15) will play the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-15) on Wednesday.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights took the court against Maryland and notched a win by a score of 68-57 in their last contest. Rutgers ended the game with a 41.5% FG percentage (22 out of 53) and knocked down 5 of their 18 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Scarlet Knights buried 19 of their 24 shots for a rate of 79.2%. In relation to grabbing boards, they earned 36 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 12 assists for the game in addition to forcing 9 turnovers and earning 3 steals. Concerning the defense, Rutgers allowed the other team to shoot 33.3% from the field on 22 out of 66 shooting. Maryland distributed 10 assists and had 4 steals for the game. In addition, Maryland grabbed 37 rebounds (15 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Maryland went 46.2% at the charity stripe by burying 6 of 13 attempts. They converted 7 of 30 shots from distance. In relation to fouls, the Scarlet Knights ended up finishing with 13 and Maryland recorded 20 fouls.

Tariq Francis is a player who came through in this matchup. He shot 30.8% from the field and earned 4 dimes. He played 36 minutes played and also totaled 4 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 21 points on 4 of 13 shooting.

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Rutgers will enter this game with a mark of 10-15 on the year. They turn it over 10.6 times per game and as a unit they are committing 16.9 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Rutgers is snagging 34.5 boards per contest and is sitting with 278 assists for the campaign, which ranks 351st in college in terms of passing the ball. The Scarlet Knights are hitting 32.0% from downtown (166 of 518) and 72.7% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 70.0 points per outing (317th in the nation) on 41.0% from the floor.

Defensively, the Scarlet Knights are able to force 11.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.3 personal fouls. They relinquish 36.9% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 234th in D-1 in PPG allowed (75.6). The Scarlet Knights defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 45.2% (670 of 1,482) and they surrender 36.4 rebounds per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 288th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 384 surrendered for the year.

The last time they took the court, the Penn State Nittany Lions took a loss by a final score of 83-72 against Oregon. In the matter of how they cleaned up the glass, Penn State allowed Oregon to get 28 in all (8 offensive). They shot 51.9% from distance by hitting 14 out of 27 and ended up going 21 out of 25 at the free throw line (84.0%). The Nittany Lions allowed Oregon to make 24 of their 48 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.0% for this game. When this game wrapped up, the Nittany Lions finished shooting 23 for 55 from the floor which gave them a rate of 41.8%. With regard to shots from distance, Penn State converted 6 of their 21 attempts (28.6%). They were able to convert 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 83.3%. Oregon committed 18 fouls in this game which took the Nittany Lions to the charity stripe for 24 tries. They also coughed it up 9 times, while getting 9 steals in this game. The Nittany Lions were able to snag 16 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards for a total of 23 in the game.

Kayden Mingo ended up being important for the Nittany Lions for the game. He buried 9 of 13 in this game for a rate of 69.2%, and had 1 rebound. He recorded 24 points in his 34 minutes on the court and tallied 2 dimes for the matchup.

Penn State has a win-loss mark of 11-15 on the season. As an offense, the Nittany Lions are hitting on 46.6% from the field, which has them ranked 107th in the nation. Penn State has 1,961 pts for the campaign (75.4 per contest) and they collect 29.8 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 12.6 times per contest (283rd in the country) and they turn the ball over 9.8 times per contest. The Nittany Lions are committing 15.6 fouls every game and they hit 75.2% from the free throw line.

The Nittany Lions on the defensive end are ranked 315th in the country in PPG allowed with 79.0. They are able to force 12.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 49.5% from the floor (359th in D-1). The Penn State defense gives up 38.7% on 3-point attempts (254 of 657) and their opponents are converting on 76.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 17.0 dimes and 33.7 rebounds per game, which ranks them 353rd and 129th in college.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Rutgers

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