Penn State vs Iowa 1/1/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions meet Sunday in college basketball action from Bryce Jordan Center. Iowa is currently 8-5 on the year. The Hawkeyes lost to Nebraska in their last game. As for Penn State, they’re sitting at 10-3 after a win over Delaware State on Thursday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Iowa won their first five games this year, then took a loss to TCU on November 26. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 since then with wins over Georgia Tech, Iowa State and SEMO alongside losses to Duke, Wisconsin, Eastern Illinois and Nebraska. 

In the Nebraska game, the Hawkeyes scored just 26 points in the first half and 24 in the second on the way to a 66-50 defeat. Iowa’s Kris Murray led the way on 17 points, and Filip Rebraca doubled on 16 points with 13 rebounds. 

Over on the Penn State side, they went 5-1 over their first six games as well with a single loss to Virginia Tech. The Lions are 5-2 since then, beating Lafayette, Illinois, Canisius, Quinnipiac and Delaware State. 

On Thursday versus Delaware State, the Lions were up 27-22 at the break. Penn State put up a 33-24 edge in the second half and took the win 60-46. Seth Lundy topped the team on 15 points with 10 rebounds and Andrew Funk put up 12 points. 

PICK: I’ll probably stick with Penn State in this one. The Nittany Lions didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet in their latest win, shooting a tepid 36.7 percent from the field and getting out-rebounded 40-38. That said, Penn State has played well over this four-game win streak, posting 74 or more points in three of those games. As for Iowa, they’ve been scoring fairly well lately with 75 or more points in four of their last five games. The Hawkeyes are just 2-3 in that time however and will likely give up a lot of points in this one if Penn State is on point.