Penn State opens as underdog in second-round matchup with Indiana

Penn State basketball lived to see another day with a victory over Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday night. Now, they take on Indiana in the second round with hopes of playing in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Penn State will be the underdog against the Hoosiers despite its regular-season success against Indiana this season. According to the initial line from FanDuel, Penn State is a 1.5-point underdog

Penn State swept the regular-season matchups with Indiana, much to the frustration of Indiana basketball fans. Penn State was atrocious on the road this season but one of its two road wins came at Indiana. Penn State won its home game later in the season as well. Defense was key in both wins for the Nittany Lions and should set the tone once again in the third meeting of the year. Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State’s star transfer guard, was named the Big Ten defensive player of the year.

Penn State is 17-14-1 against the spread this season and 14-6-1 ATS (during the regular season) in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions were on a bit of a hot streak with a 4-0-1 mark ATS in the last five games (and 7-2-1 in the last 10 games) heading into the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. Penn State covered in the first-round matchup against Michigan as well. Playing on the road has been a challenge for Penn State this season, however. The Nittany Lions are 7-7-1 ATS in true road games this season, and they were 0-4 ATS on a neutral court (1-4 if you count Penn State’s win over Michigan in The Palestra in Philadelphia).

Indiana was 15-15-1 ATS this season and 11-8-1 ATS in Big Ten games. The Hoosiers enter the Big Ten tournament 4-1 ATS in their last five games but 5-5 in their last 10. Indiana went 6-7-1 ATS away from home this season in true road games (1-3 ATS in neutral site games).

Penn State games have tended to go over the point total this season (19-12-1 going over the total). So have Indiana games (17-14). Penn State’s first-round win over Michigan went under the point total.

Here is a look at the latest gameday odds from FanDuel.

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