Northwestern vs Penn State Odds and Picks (Feb 25)

• Penn State is a 2.5-point home favorite over Northwestern on Friday night
• Northwestern snapped its three-game losing streak by beating Nebraska on Tuesday
• Below, see the Northwestern vs Penn State odds and betting pick

Two teams looking to avoid playing on the first day of the Big Ten Tournament meet as Northwestern visits Penn State at 7 p.m. ET Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College.

Northwestern (13-13/6-11 Big Ten/3-6 road) ended a three-game losing streak Tuesday by defeating Nebraska 77-65. A night earlier, Penn State (11-13/6-10 Big Ten/9-4 home) had its two-game winning streak snapped at Maryland 67-61.

Northwestern vs Penn State Odds

Odds as of February 24th at BetMGM.

In a game that will be shown by FS1, Penn State is a 2.5-point favorite and has a 59.18% implied win probability as -145 picks on the moneyline.

Neither school cracked the 68-team field in this week’s March Madness bracket projection, nor were they even among the first 15 bubble teams to miss.

Northwestern has a slightly better at-large resume so far, sitting 77th in the NET Rankings versus Penn State at 85th.

Northwestern Betting Outlook

Just like it is straight-up, Northwestern is .500 against the spread at 12-12-1 this season. The Wildcats are 5-4 against the number in road games.

Senior forward Pete Nance, Northwestern’s leading scorer, had a fine game in the win over Nebraska with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. He was 8 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 5 from three-point range.

Pete Nance has an incredibly advanced post fadeaway jump shot. On top of that, he's a 44% shooter from 3 at 6'10. He's inching towards the best shooter in the class discussions pic.twitter.com/RmyGOPatfS

— Rich (@MavsDraft) February 23, 2022

Nance is averaging 15.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game.

Junior guard Boo Buie is right behind Nance in scoring with a 15.0 average, which he matched on Tuesday. Buie is also dishing 4.4 assists a game.

Junior guard Chase Audige also scored 15 points, which matched his total from the three previous games combined. He also had five assists and three steals while limiting Nebraska standout freshman Bryce McGowens to 5-of-16 shooting.

A contributor in many areas, Audige has averages of 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals. He ranks second in steals in the conference.

NU junior guard Chase Audige hits a floater after breaking their 1-3-1 zone to help seal the deal.

NU hit free throws down the stretch and broke their 3-game losing streak with a big conference win.

NU wins 77-65.

The backcourt of Buie and Audige scored 15 points each. pic.twitter.com/ng8CO5rLAT

— Joshua M. Hicks (@joshmhicksmedia) February 23, 2022

Sophomore guard Ty Berry provided a spark off the bench with 10 points.

Northwestern committed 15 turnovers but made half its 60 field goal attempts and was 13 of 32 (40.6%) on three-pointers. The Wildcats opened the second half by outscoring Nebraska 26-14 to extend a 37-31 lead to 63-45.

Penn State Betting Outlook

Pennsylvania sports bettors have seen the Nittanies go 5-1 ATS in their previous six games before being on the losing side against Maryland as 2.5-point underdogs. The Nittany Lions are 13-11 ATS in 2021-22, including 8-5 at home.

Senior guard Sam Sessoms scored 17 points in a reserve role to lead Penn State on Monday. He is averaging 11.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds.

"OH! Sam Sessoms doing it himself!"@PennStateMBB pic.twitter.com/3lGV9n5cZa

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) November 27, 2021

Senior forward John Harrar notched his third consecutive double-double and ninth of the season by scoring 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. He is averaging 10.7 points and 9.8 rebounds.

Harrar is second in the Big Ten and 16^th nationally in rebounding.

A transfer from Siena, senior guard Jalen Pickett has made am impact for the Nittany Lions. He has averages of 13.0 points, 4.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds.

At Maryland, Pickett had 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals, though he was 5 for 18 from the floor and 1 for 5 on three-pointers. Pickett has scored in double digits in five straight games and 16 of the last 17.

Limitless range for Jalen Pickett this afternoon 😤 pic.twitter.com/92kCa6fdy1

— Onward State (@OnwardState) February 17, 2022

Junior forward Seth Lundy is scoring 12.3 points and grabbing 5.3 rebounds a game.

Penn State shot 42.1% (8 of 19) from long distance and held Maryland without a field goal for the final 6:20 but still came up short.

Northwestern vs Penn State Prediction

Penn State beat Northwestern 74-70 on Jan. 5 on the road. It was the Nittany Lions’ second straight victory in the series and fifth in the last six games.

Lundy led Penn State with 23 points and Pickett registered 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Wildcats were topped by Buie’s 22 points and eight assists while Nance chipped in with 15 points.

This figures to be another close game but the lean goes to Penn State, which has been profitable at home this winter.

The Pick: Penn State -2.5 (-110)