Penn State vs Minnesota College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/3/21

The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Penn State Nittany Lions meet in college basketball action from the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday night.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will look to bounce back from a 5th straight loss in the form of a 78-74 loss to Nebraska last time out. Marcus Carr leads the Gophers in scoring and assists with 20 APG and 5 APG while Liam Robbins is the only other double-digit scorer with 11.7 PPG but he continues to miss time with an ankle injury. Brandon Johnson’s been adding 9 PPG and 6.1 RPG in Robbins’ front-court role while Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Both Gach have contributed key minutes as well for the Gophers this season. As a team, Minnesota is averaging 73.7 PPG on 39.9% shooting from the field and 28.9% from three while allowing 73.5 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field and 35% from three this season.

The Penn State Nittany Lions come into this one reeling on the heels of a 73-52 beatdown at the hands of Purdue last time out. Myreon Jones leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 15.4 PPG while Izaiah Brockington has 13 PPG with 4.5 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Penn State so far this season. John Harrar has 9 PPG with a team-high 8.5 RPG to lead the Nittany Lions on the glass and Jamari Wheeler has a team-high 3.6 APG this season. As a team, Penn State is averaging 72.4 PPG on 40.7% shooting from the field and 33.8% from the 3-point line while allowing 74.2 PPG on 47.2% shooting from the field and 34.2% from three this season.

Minnesota is 1-9 ATS in their last 10 road games and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 games following a loss. Penn State is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 home games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 21-7 in their last 28 games against a team with a winning record. The home team is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings between these two teams.

It’s really a shame to see what’s been going on with the Gophers and injuries at the wrong time have decimated this team and have made them go from a ranked squad to a team that’s limping to the end of the season. Penn State hasn’t been good for much of anything this season, but Minnesota was getting destroyed on the road regularly to begin with and now they are banged and bruised and on the road too. I didn’t think I’d be saying this a month ago, but I’ll side with Penn State in this one.