The Michigan Wolverines travel to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions tonight in Big Ten college basketball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Currently the odds for the game Penn State as a small favorite in this one.
Penn State has opened the season with 12 wins, but they have lost both games in the Big Ten to start the year. Both of those defeats came on the road at No. 4 Wisconsin and at Rutgers. Tonight they host a Michigan basketball team that was in the Top 25 nationally to start the season, but has really fallen on some hard times under head coach John Beilein.
Michigan is just 8-6 on the season and just got embarrassed on Saturday at Purdue. The Boilermakers couldn't slow the Wolverines down in the first half, trailing 33-25, but Purdue put the hammer down in the second half, out-scoring Michigan 39-18 to pull away for a comfortable win. Michigan really struggled shooting the basketball in that game, connecting for only 31 percent of their shots. The Wolverines are such a perimeter-based team and really do struggle against clubs with an inside presence. If they can't knock down shots, they don't win games.
Penn State is a much better rebounding team than Michigan. The Nittany Lions aren't the best team on the interior in the Big Ten, but they'll have the advantage against Michigan on the glass heading into this one. The Wolverines are very young up front and they'll have their hands full with Penn State's Ross Travis and Brandon Taylor. The Nittany Lions duo have some solid front court play and could take advantage of a smaller Michigan team that doesn't like to put Mark Donnal and Ricky Doyle on the floor at the same time. Tonight, though, they just might.
The big matchup tonight though could be Penn State's D.J. Newbill and Michigan's Caris LeVert. Newbill leads the conference in scoring at 21.4 points per game and is one of the best players in the Big Ten. He's going to have a big game tonight if Penn State finds a way to win at home. LeVert and Zak Irvin both average almost 15 points per game for Michigan, but both rely too much on perimeter shots. When they attack the rim, Michigan is a solid team that can get to the foul line and win games. But when they fall in love with the triples, they leave themselves vulnerable. Tonight, Penn State will take advantage of that.
Free Pick: Penn State 61, Michigan 55
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