Halftime Report
Only one more half stands between Northwestern and the win they were favored to collect coming into this afternoon. A win is still up for grabs for either team after one quarter, but Northwestern is up 29-27 over the Nittany Lions.
If Northwestern keeps playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 17-7 in no time. On the other hand, Penn State will have to make due with a 12-12 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
Penn State Nittany Lions @ Northwestern Wildcats
Current Records: Penn State 12-11, Northwestern 16-7
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, February 11, 2024 at 1 p.m. ET
- Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena — Evanston, Illinois
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $11.00
What to Know
Penn State is 8-2 against the Wildcats since March of 2018, and they’ll have a chance to extend that success on Sunday. Both teams will face off in a Big Ten battle at 1:00 p.m. ET at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Penn State pulled off an upset win in their last outing, and are hoping to pull that off once more against the 8-point favorite Wildcats.
Penn State entered their tilt with the Hawkeyes with two consecutive wins but they’ll enter their next game with three. The Nittany Lions walked away with an 89-79 win over the Hawkeyes on Thursday. The oddsmakers set the bar high with a 163.5-point over/under, but they still managed to beat it.
Penn State can attribute much of their success to Ace Baldwin Jr., who scored 22 points along with six assists and four steals. Qudus Wahab was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 13 to 3 on the offensive boards, a fact Northwestern proved on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Cornhuskers by a score of 80-68.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northwestern to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ryan Langborg, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Boo Buie, who scored 22 points along with two steals.
The Nittany Lions now have a winning record of 12-11. As for the Wildcats, their victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Penn State hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 76.5 points per game. However, it’s not like Northwestern struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 75.2 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Northwestern and the Nittany Lions pleased both fans and bettors in their last matchups by winning and covering the spread. Going forward, Northwestern is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by eight points. For those looking to play the spread, take note: Penn State is a solid 8-5 against the spread when playing as the underdog.
Odds
Northwestern is a big 8-point favorite against Penn State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 8-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is set at 145 points.
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Series History
Penn State has won 8 out of their last 10 games against Northwestern.
- Jan 10, 2024 – Northwestern 76 vs. Penn State 72
- Mar 10, 2023 – Penn State 67 vs. Northwestern 65
- Mar 01, 2023 – Penn State 68 vs. Northwestern 65
- Feb 25, 2022 – Penn State 67 vs. Northwestern 60
- Jan 05, 2022 – Penn State 74 vs. Northwestern 70
- Jan 23, 2021 – Penn State 81 vs. Northwestern 78
- Mar 07, 2020 – Northwestern 80 vs. Penn State 69
- Feb 15, 2020 – Penn State 77 vs. Northwestern 61
- Feb 04, 2019 – Penn State 59 vs. Northwestern 52
- Mar 01, 2018 – Penn State 65 vs. Northwestern 57
