The Penn State Nittany Lions take on the Indiana Hoosiers. Our Big Ten Tournament odds series has our Penn State Indiana prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Penn State Indiana.
The Penn State Nittany Lions entered the first week of March in real trouble for the NCAA Tournament. They had just lost to Rutgers at home in a game where they missed each of their last 14 field goal attempts and blew a late lead. They were underwater, needing at least two wins and very possibly three to make the Big Dance. Penn State faced a road game at Northwestern (the team which eventually became the No. 2 seed at this year's Big Ten Tournament) and a home game at Maryland, a clear NCAA Tournament team. The Nittany Lions needed to win at least one of those games, and probably two, to move into serious NCAA Tournament contention. Losing both games would have finished their at-large candidacy.
Penn State not only swept that pair of games; it won each game — literally — in the last second of play. Not with five seconds left or three seconds left, but with under 1.0 seconds to go. Penn State twice parlayed offensive rebounds into game-winning baskets, rescuing itself in games it had trailed. PSU trailed Northwestern by six points with under five minutes left but came back to win in overtime. It trailed Maryland by double digits at halftime and was still down by one point in the final five seconds before a putback basket carried the Nittany Lions to victory.
Then came this week at the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State beat Illinois for the third time this season in the second round, followed by yet another overtime win over Northwestern — the second OT win over the Wildcats in a 10-day span — in the quarterfinals. Penn State keeps winning overtime games and close games, riding a magic carpet straight into the NCAA Tournament. Can the Nittany Lions continue their feel-good run?
Here are the Penn State-Indiana Big Ten Tournament odds, courtesy of FanDuel:
Big Ten Tournament Odds: Penn State-Indiana Odds
Penn State Nittany Lions: +3.5 (-102)
Indiana Hoosiers: -3.5 (-120)
Over: 138.5 (-110)
Under: 138.5 (-110)
How To Watch Penn State vs. Indiana
TV: CBS
Stream: CBSSports.com
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. PT
*Watch Penn State-Indiana LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Penn State Could Cover The Spread
The Nittany Lions are simply in “the zone” right now. They can't lose. Everything they touch turns to gold. Teams sometimes get into a rhythm where they dominate their opponents; Penn State is not doing that. However, sometimes teams get into a pattern of play where they always seem to make the clutch shot or the big defensive stop. Whenever they really need something, they get it. That's what the Nittany Lions are doing. PSU is playing superb crunch-time basketball right now. The team isn't brilliant for 40 whole minutes, but it is owning the endgame phase of basketball, and that's more than enough to cover a spread against Indiana or anyone else.
Why Indiana Could Cover The Spread
The Hoosiers lost by 19 at Penn State much earlier in the Big Ten season. That was two months ago, when the Hoosiers were in a rut and were a lot less healthy than they are now. Trayce Jackson-Davis wasn't playing well for IU back then. He is playing well now. Everything is so different for Indiana compared to the last time it played Penn State. This game will be a 180-degree change for the Hoosiers.
Final Penn State-Indiana Prediction & Pick
Penn State is a hot team, but Indiana has grown by leaps and bounds since its awful performance against the Nittany Lions. It will be different this time. Take the Hoosiers.
Final Penn State-Indiana Prediction & Pick: Indiana -3.5
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