Penn St. vs Illinois Basketball Picks & Predictions
Penn St. is on the road playing Illinois at the State Farm Center stadium on Saturday, 12/10/2022 @ 12:00pm EST. Illinois -9.5 was the opening favorite and current line is
Game outlook
Penn St. is on the road playing Illinois at the State Farm Center stadium on Saturday, 12/10/2022 @ 12:00pm EST. Illinois -9.5 was the opening favorite and current line is Illinois -10.25.
When Penn State travels to No. 17 Illinois on Saturday afternoon, it will be looking to snap its two-game losing streak. After winning six of their first seven games, the Nittany Lions lost consecutive games to Clemson and Michigan State. On Tuesday, Illinois beat No. 2 Texas in overtime after losing to Maryland.
A versatile Pickett leads the Nittany Lions
This season, Penn State won its first four games, including victories over Butler and Furman. After losing to Virginia Tech 61-59, the Nittany Lions bounced back with wins over Colorado State and Lafayette. In the two games since then, they have lost to Clemson in double overtime and Michigan State by nine points. Jalen Pickett led the Spartans with 13 points, 17 rebounds, and eight assists.
Pickett leads Penn State in scoring (15.8), rebounding (7.8), assists (7.7) and steals (1.4), making him a well-rounded player. His teammates have struggled recently, including forward Kebba Njie, who has scored two points on 1 of 7 shooting in his last two games. Against Michigan State, Penn State missed 19 of its 27 3-point attempts. Out of 363 Division I teams, the Nittany Lions ranked No. 31 for field goal percentage (55.6) and No. 10 The only weakness on offense is their rebounding, which they miss 39.3% of the time. The Illinois defense is ranked No. 12 in adjusted efficiency when playing them.