Michigan Wolverines (8-23) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (15-16)
March 13, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Penn State Nittany Lions -4.5; Over/Under: +151.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Michigan Wolverines and the Penn State Nittany Lions meet Wednesday in the college basketball Big Ten Tournament First Round at the Target Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Michigan vs. Penn State prediction.
Michigan Team Preview
The Michigan Wolverines come into the conference tournament as the 14-seed, finishing the year with a 3-17 record in conference play as part of their 8-23 overall record this season. Dug McDaniel leads the Wolverines in scoring and assists with 16.6 PPG along with 4.6 APG while Olivier Nkamhoua has 14.8 PPG with a team-high 7.1 RPG and 2.7 APG to lead the Wolverines on the glass this season. Terrance Williams II has 12.3 PPG with 4.4 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Michigan up to this point in the year. Nimari Burnett has 9.5 PPG with 4.1 RPG and Tarris Reed Jr. also has 8.9 PPG with 7.2 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Michigan is averaging 73.5 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field, 36.3% from three and 70.2% from the foul line this season.
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Penn State Team Preview
The Penn State Nittany Lions come into the Big Ten tournament as the 11-seed, sitting at 9-11 in conference play as part of their 15-16 overall mark this season. Kanye Clary leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 16.7 PPG along with 2.9 RPG and 2.8 APG while Ace Baldwin Jr. has 14.3 PPG with team-highs of 6 APG and 2.7 SPG to lead Penn State in assists as the only other double-digit scorer for Penn state so far this season. Qudus Wahab also has 9.8 PPG with a team-high 7.7 RPG to lead Penn State on the glass. As a team, Penn State is averaging 75.9 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 33.5% from three and 74.2% from the foul line this season.
Michigan vs. Penn State Prediction
I’m on Penn State here. I don’t love the Nittany Lions as much as the next person, but it’s time for this debacle of a season to be put to bed for Michigan. The Wolverines needed Dug McDaniel back for their road games as they were getting crushed without him, but getting him back hasn’t seemed to help. Penn State’s had some inefficiencies of their own, but the Nittany Lions are still the better team in a better position to be able to bag the win and cover here. Give me Penn State laying the points.
