The Quinnipiac Bobcats and the Penn State Nittany Lions meet in college basketball action from the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday afternoon.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats will try to bounce back from a 63-56 loss to Saint Peter’s last time out. Matt Balanc leads the Bobcats in scoring with 11.2 PPG along with 4.2 RPG while Ike Nweke has 11 PPG with a team-high 7 RPG to lead Quinnipiac on the glass this season. Luis Kortright has 10.7 PPG with 4.6 RPG and a team-high 3.9 APG to lead the Bobcats in assists and Dezi Jones has 10.3 PPG with 3.9 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures this season. As a team, Quinnipiac is averaging 72.8 PPG on 44.8% shooting from the field, 35.2% from three and 60.7% from the foul line this season.
The Penn State Nittany Lions will be hoping to build on a 97-67 win over Canisius last time out. Jalen Pickett leads the Nittany Lions in scoring, rebounding and assists with 16.2 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 7.6 APG while Andrew Funk has 11.4 PPG this season. Seth Lundy has 13.7 PPG and Camren Wynter has 10 PPG to round out the scoring in double figures for Penn State this season, with Lundy logging 6.7 RPG as well this season. As a team, Penn State is averaging 76.7 PPG on 47.3% shooting from the field, 41.5% from three and 75.4% from the foul line this season.
Quinnipiac is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a loss and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall. Penn State is 23-8-1 ATS in their last 32 games overall and 14-3-1 ATS in their last 18 home games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following an ATS win.
I get the case to be made for either side here, but I’m leaning towards Penn State. The Bobcats have played in a lot of close games, but unfortunately none of the recent close games pales into comparison what’s coming up when Quinnipiac heads to Penn State. The Nittany Lions are just the far better team and I think they win this game in beatdown fashion.