NIT Championship Odds -- Penn State Meets Utah For the Consolation Prize

  • In Charles Jay
  • Thu, Mar 29th, 2018 12:20:08 pm
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Penn State Nittany Lions come off an easy victory on Tuesday night, and they get ready to face the Utah Runnin' Utes for the NIT title at Madison Square Garden.

There is no question that the Penn State Nittany Lions and Utah Runnin' Utes both felt as if they had compiled enough credentials to make it into the NCAA Tournament field. But when it comes down to handing out those at-large spots, it becomes a matter of very small distinctions between one team and another. The consensus is that Penn State got hosed a little more than Utah, but one of these teams will still get to end their season on a winning note when they meet at Madison Square Garden for the NIT Championship. Game time is 7 PM ET on ESPNU, and BetAnySports customers will have an opportunity to place wagers even after the game gets underway, as they access the state-of-the-art software from Live Betting Ultra.

Utah Utes NIT Championship previewUtah (23-11 SU, 18-11 ATS) got here by beating Saint Mary's in overtime in the quarter-finals, then scoring a 69-64 victory over Western Kentucky at the Garden a couple of nights ago. Justin Bibbins had 19 points, with a dozen of those coming on free throws. At 87.6%, the 5-8 Long Beach State transfer is not the guy anybody wants to foul. David Collette, coming off a back injury and also the birth of his child two days before, had 13 points, and there was different shot distribution for the Utes than there had been in the game at Saint Mary's. Whereas this team, which throws up 46% of its shots from three-point range, split those attempts evenly (27 from both behind and inside the arc) in the quarters, they took 32 shots from two-point range and just 16 from downtown against Western Kentucky, and as Penn State studied that tape, it might have an impact on how they are going to defend them.

In the NIT Championship odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, Penn State is the favorite:

Penn State Nittany Lions -4.5
Utah Runnin' Utes +4.5

Over 135.5 points -110
Under 135.5 points -110

The Nittany Lions (25-13 SU, 20-13 ATS), who had beaten an impressive set of opponents (Temple, Notre Dame, Marquette) to get to the Big Apple, came out and blew away a Mississippi State team that simply was not ready to play. The Bulldogs continually left Penn State shooters open, and Shep Garner knocked down six triples - setting an one-season record at the school - as the Nittany Lions coasted to a 75-60 victory. They led by as many as 27 points in the second half. Tony Carr, the team leader with 19.7 ppg, had 21 points, and Lamar Stevens added 17 points with eight rebounds.

Penn State Nittany Lions NIT free pickCollege basketball bettors may know that Mike Watkins, the inside bulwark of the team, who averaged 2.3 blocks and 8.9 rebounds, is out with a knee injury, but one thing Pat Chambers' team is demonstrating is that they can alter their approach to compensate for his loss, and that Carr does not have to have a great game for them to win. In fact, the 6-5 sophomore guard, who may apply for the NBA Draft, made just one field goal in twelve attempts in the NIT opening win against Temple.

This is an important thing to remember. Chambers has been using 6-9 freshman John Harrar, a good athlete (he had football offers) in place of Watkins, and he has at least made his presence known; he has 18 offensive rebounds over the last six games (including eight in his last two). The question is whether he will provide enough resistance for mighty mite guard Bibbins as he comes into the paint and tries to draw fouls.

Ultimately we like Penn State because they have shown us a few different ways to win, and they can actually play fast or slow, grinding it out or even out-gunning a team like Marquette, who they scored 85 points against. There is more support for them in this building, which is where they played the Big Ten tournament, and they'll do a better job of preventing second-shot opportunities. So we lay the points.

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(The preceding information has been furnished for news matter only)


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