Ohio St. vs Iowa CBB Hoops Handicapping
Penn State will aim to pull off another shocking road vistory this season when they take on No. 9 Michigan State in a Big Ten showdown on Thursday night in East Lansing. [ad-4468020]
Date/Time: 9 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014
Venue: Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, Michigan
Broadcast: ESPN 2
Spread: -13.5 MSU
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The Nittany Lions (12-10) are winners of three straight, including a stunning overtime win at Ohio State to end the month of January. Before that they had lost six in a row, falling 0-6 in conference play.
But with every win since, Penn State seems to be gaining confidence behind the play of D.J. Newbill, who is averaging 20 points in that span.
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Newbill scored 25 points in the win against the Buckeyes and provided help on the interior with seven rebounds as Penn State outrebounded Purdue in a 79-68 win on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Michigan State (19-1) did not have a lot of luck over the weekend against Georgetown, falling to the Hoyas, 64-60, at Madison Square Garden.
Guard Gary Harris, who is averaging 20.6 points on 54 percent shooting in the last five games, led Michigan State with 20 points.
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Denzel Valentine had 11 points and Kenny Kaminski added 10 for the Spartans, who were outrebounded 37-30, without Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson whose absences have appeared to finally catch up with the Spartans.
Michigan State won the first meeting of the season with the Nittany Lions, beating them 79-63 in the conference opener Dec. 31. A big part of was the way the Spartans’ dominated the boards 45-26 in that first meeting, with Payne and Dawson combining for 19 rebounds and 25 points.
However, if Payne and Dawson are not on the floor come Thursday, the Spartans’ toughness after getting outrebounded and beat up inside in Saturday’s loss to Georgetown is definitely in question.
Free Pick: Penn State—
The Spartans have won 19 of 20 meetings between the schools in East Lansing, but this one could be different.
MSU is 1-2 without Payne and Dawson, and if the Nittany Lions can take advantage of their absences, they could have a good shot here.
Combine that with the fact that PSU has held its last four opponents to a combined 37 percent shooting, and anything is possible.
Still, I don’t really see PSU winning this one outright, but I do see the spread being much closer than the oddsmakers are giving.
Take Penn State and the points here.
