Penn State Nittany Lions vs Marquette Golden Eagles: Free NIT Basketball Pick, 3–20–2018

Free College Basketball Spread Pick by Joey Bergeron of Oddsboard.com

Penn State Nittany Lions vs Marquette Golden Eagles

Tuesday, March 20th, 7:00 pm EST
NIT Betting Prediction and Odds
NCAAB Odds: Marquette -2.5

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions meet up with the Marquette Golden Eagles for an NIT quarterfinal matchup. The winner of this game will get a trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semi-finals.

Penn State beat Temple in the first round of the NIT, followed by Notre Dame. Tony Carr leads the Nittany Lions in scoring and is the team leader in assists averaging 19.5 points and 4.7 assists per game. Four other Penn State players are averaging double figures in scoring.

As a team, Penn State is scoring 74.2 PPG on offense and they are allowing 66.5 PPG on defense. Penn State has 22 wins on the season and finished 6th in the Big 10 standings.

Penn State Betting Trends

• Penn State is 5–0 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win
• Penn State is 6–0–1 ATS in their last 7 vs. Big East
• Penn State is 7–1 ATS in their last 8 road games

Marquette Golden Eagles

The Marquette Golden Eagles look to extend their season after wins over Harvard and Oregon in the NIT. Marquette finished 6th in the Big East this season tied with Butler. However, Butler and the five teams above Marquette made it to the NCAA Tournament.

Marquette is a high scoring team that averages 81 PPG and defensively they allow 78 PPG. In their win over the Ducks, the Golden Eagles made 12-of-26 from beyond the arc. This a key component to their offense and they will be playing a Penn State defense that allows 34% from 3-point range.

Markus Howard leads the Golden Eagles in scoring with an average of 20.4 points per game, followed by Andrew Rowsey who averages 20.2 PPG.

Marquette Betting Trends

• Marquette is 6–2 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record
• Marquette is 4–1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
• Marquette is 2–6 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win

Penn State vs Marquette Betting Prediction

These two teams both had good seasons but not quite good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, they are both competitive teams that come from solid conferences. Marquette has plenty of offense to contend with any team in the NIT, however, they are very dependent on the 3-point ball. If shooting goes cold from beyond the arc, it could be a long night. Penn State does not want to play Marquette’s game which is an up-tempo, high scoring affair. The Nittany Lions will want to slow it down and keep this game’s score in the 60s or 70s. This Penn State team is sneaky good and they have contended all season. I think the public will overlook this team and side with Marquette but I like the Nittany Lions to cover the spread.

Penn State vs Marquette NCAAB Pick: Penn State +2.5