Penn State vs Rutgers Game Information

Penn State vs Rutgers Preview

Penn State (8-1, 1-0 in Big Ten) faces No. 24 Rutgers (5-4, 0-1 in Big Ten) in this second Big Ten Conference game for both schools. In their first conference game, the Nittany Lions defeated Purdue 81-70 at State College while the Scarlet Knights fell to Ohio State (80-66) at Columbus. While Penn State has won 4 of its last 5, also defeating Buffalo (87-64), Fordham (85-66), and Purdue-Fort Wayne (102-89) and losing to Clemson (75-67), Rutgers lost 4 of 5, also falling to Texas A&M (81-77), Alabama (95-90), and Kennesaw State (79-77) while beating Notre Dame in OT (85-84). In Big Ten play last season, the Nittany Lions went 9-11 (16-17 overall) with Rutgers going 7-13 (15-17). All teams in the Big Ten will have to deal with the reality that talents UCLA, Oregon, USC, and Washington are joining the fray this season. Buckle up buttercup.

Penn State Can Pull Upset Off Here as Underdog

Penn State (5-4-0 ATS, 4-5-0 O/U) upset Purdue in its Big Ten opener and a win like that speaks volumes, even though the Nittany Lions went off as 2-Point Home Favorites. G Ace Baldwin Jr. (15.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 8.1 apg), F Yanic Konan Niederhauser (13.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), F Zach Hicks (12.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg), G Nick Kern Jr. (11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), G Puff Johnson (10.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg), and G Freddie Dillone V (9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg) give Penn State a very good group with almost six double-digit scorers. The Nittany Lions (-104 Moneyline) are averaging a robust 90.1 ppg a game (#5) while allowing just 67.8, a nice 22.3 Point Margin (#8) and with so many creators, this team also averages 18.4 Assists Per Game (#16).

Penn State Betting Trends

• Penn State is 2-1-0 ATS in its last 3 Road games
• The Nittany Lions are 8-20 in their last 10 overall
• The Under is 3-1-0 in the Nittany Lions last 4 games
• Penn State was 13-19-0 ATS last season (40.6%) 
• The Under is 4-0-0 the last 4 Nittany Lions games
• The Over was 19-13-1 in Penn State games last season

No. 24 Rutgers Has Tough Test vs Nittany Lions

After being a very profitable Under team in the 2023-24 NCAA Basketball season, Rutgers (3-5-1 ATS, 6-3-0 O/U) has been a strong Over team so far and the Scarlet Knights have played 3 Over in their last 4 games. Rutgers is led by G Dylan Harper (23.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.5 apg), G Ace Bailey (17.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg), G Jeremiah Williams (8.3 ppg), C Lathan Sommerville (8.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg), G Jordan Derkack (7.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), and C Zach Martini (5.0 ppg) and average 79.7 ppg (Tied-#104) while giving up 75.6 ppg. Despite the Top 25 ranking (for now), Rutgers isn’t that great at Rebounding (35.8 rpg, Tied-#243) or Assists (13.7 apg, Tied-#224). Although they have lost to some really quality teams in Alabama, Texas A&M, and Ohio State, this Scarlet Knights (-115 Moneyline) team seems to be a bit overrated and this may be a game to consider taking Underdogs Penn State on the Moneyline.

Rutgers Betting Trends

• Rutgers is 3-6-1 ATS its last 10 overall
• The Scarlet Knights are 0-3-0 SU/ATS in their last 3 games
• Rutgers was 13-19-0 ATS last season
• The Scarlet Knights have lost 5 straight conference games
• Rutgers is 1-8 SU in its last 9 Big Ten Conference games
• The Under was 22-10-0 in Rutgers games last season (68.8%)

Penn State vs Rutgers Prediction

There are two things to look at these Penn State vs Rutgers NCAAB picks, the overwhelming streaking Trend in the Totals market and how good this Rutgers team really is. Perhaps the Nittany Lions are a Top 25 team and the Scarlet Knights aren’t? The Penn State roster and scoring options look so much better as does the healthy scoring average. These two have each won 5 times in the last 10 meetings and Rutgers is 5-4-1 ATS and has won 3 of the last 4 SU, but I am not sold on the bunch. The Nittany Lions are actually 4-2 ATS the last 6 and won the last meeting at Piscataway last year, rolling to 61-46 outright victory as 7.5-Point Road Underdogs. The overwhelming streak? How about 10 straight Unders Jersey Mike’s Sub breath? Let’s gamble on Penn State winning and another Under.

Kevin’s Picks: Penn State Moneyline -104, Under 157.5