Purdue vs. Penn State prediction and odds for Sunday, January 8 (Nittany Lions will keep game close)

The No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers beat Ohio State in a 71-69 thriller on Thursday night, and now they’ll find themselves in another tough battle against Penn State on Saturday.

I don’t want to take anything away from Purdue, but I have a strong feeling the No. 1 ranking isn’t going to last long. The Boilermakers are finding ways to win games, but their stats don’t jump off the page.

I’ll wager on the Nittany Lions to keep this game close at the very least.

Let’s dive into the odds.

Purdue vs. Penn State odds, spread, and total

Purdue vs. Penn State prediction and pick

Purdue’s numbers don’t jump off the page, and there’s a few key areas that Penn State outranks them in. Mainly, effective field goal percentage. Purdue ranks 100th in the country in effective field goal percentage, while Penn State ranks 18th.

The biggest advantage Penn State has, is turnovers. They commit the fewest turnovers in college basketball, turning the ball over on only 12.7% of turnovers. Meanwhile, Purdue ranks 341st in opponent turnovers per game, so expect the Nittany Lions to hardly ever cough up the ball tonight.

With the spread set at 5.5, I think that’s way too high of a number for a game that should be extremely competitive.

Give me the Nittany Lions to get hot from three and cover the spread as underdogs.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.