Rutgers vs Penn State 3/6/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet Sunday in college basketball action from the RAC. Penn State is 12-15 overall this year. The Nittany Lions lost to Illinois in their last game. As for Rutgers, they’re sitting at 17-12 and coming off a win over Indiana. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Penn State was sitting at 8-6 back on January 11, but they’ve only been able to win consecutive games once since then during these tough conference games. The Nittany Lions are 1-3 in their last four with losses to Maryland, Nebraska and Illinois. 

On Thursday versus the Illini, the Lions held a slim one-point lead at halftime. Penn State was outscored 25-31 from there in a rough 60-55 loss. Tops in scoring was Jalen Pickett with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the defeat. 

Over on the Rutgers side, they managed a nice four-game win streak last month against some tough teams, leaving the Knights at 16-9. After three losses to Purdue, Michigan and Wisconsin, Rutgers bounced back with a win over Indiana in their last game. 

Matched up against the Hoosiers on Wednesday, the Knights trailed by seven going into the second half. Rutgers hit a 41-31 stretch from there in a 66-63 comeback win. Ron Harper led the team on his 19 points, six boards and four assists. 

The Knights are 7-2 ATS in their last nine at home and 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine overall. The under is 4-1 in Rutgers’ last five overall. 

Meanwhile, the Lions are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 overall and 5-1 ATS in their last six after a straight-up loss. The under is 5-2 in Penn State’s last seven road games.

PICK: I’m probably going to try Rutgers here. The Knights had a nice four-game win streak versus all ranked teams last month, but they’ve faltered on a 1-3 stretch since then. Rutgers is in line for a revenge opportunity here as well; the last time these teams met up the Knights lost 66-49 on the road back on January 11. 

As for Penn State, they’ve got some nice wins here and there lately but they’ve also been below 68 points in five of their last six outings. If Rutgers can get off to a good start here and get that offense working, I think they can power out a cover in the rematch. Should be a fun game.