The Penn Quakers and the Bucknell Bison meet Sunday in college basketball action from Sojka Pavilion. Penn is sitting at 0-2 so far. The Quakers have lost to Florida State and George Mason in their first pair. As for the Bison, they’ve got an 18-point loss to NC State in the books from back on Tuesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Penn had a tough matchup right out of the gate against Florida State. The Quakers were outscored 51-39 in the first half on the way to a 105-70 blowout loss. Jordan Dingle led the team in scoring with 23 points, one rebound and one assist in 22 minutes of action.
In game two, the Quakers’ luck wasn’t much better. Penn fell behind 43-27 at halftime and couldn’t get any closer in an 87-66 loss. Dingle was again the leading scorer with 20 points, four rebounds and five assists. Jonah Charles added 18 points as well.
Over on the Bucknell side, they’re coming off a sketchy 5-7 record last year with a 4-6 mark in Patriot League play. The Bisons landed in second place in the Central Division and beat Lafayette in the conference tourney before a loss to Colgate.
Bucknell faced off against NC State in their opener this year. The Bison were able to hang around with a 40-40 tie at halftime but couldn’t keep up in an 88-70 loss. Xander Rice and Andrew Funk each posted 14 points to lead the team with a combined eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Bison are 2-5 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up loss and 4-1 ATS in their last five as a home underdog. The under is 12-4 in Bucknell’s last 16 home games.
Meanwhile, Penn is 6-1 ATS in their last seven Sunday games and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 road games. The Quakers are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Bucknell. The Bison put up a pretty decent effort against NC State in their opener, shooting 46.0 percent from the field with 12 team assists. Bucknell shot a spotty 9-of-31 from 3-point range and was out-rebounded 42-33, however.
As for Penn, they’ve gotten some good contributions from a few key players over their first couple of games, but haven’t found a good rhythm with role players just yet. The Quakers haven’t been great on the glass either, with just 26 rebounds (five offensive) in their last game. I don’t think Penn has the depth to keep up on the scoreboard here if Bucknell gets going.