College Basketball Picks: Cornell at Penn

Cornell Big Red (20-5 SU, 11-11-1 ATS) vs. Penn Quakers (10-16 SU, 9-15 ATS)

When: Friday, March 1st, 8:00 PM (ET)

Where: The Palestra, PA, Philadelphia

TV: ESPN+

Point Spread: CORNEL -4.5/PENN +4.5

Total: 158.5

Money Line: Cornell Big Red -194/+157

Notable Injuries

Big Red

Quakers

Recent Form

Despite losing their most recent game, Cornell has been one of the best teams in the Ivy League this season. They come into this game with a record of 20-5, including a 9-2 mark in conference play. On the road, they have gone 9-4, and their average scoring margin away from home is +2.8 points per game.

So far this season, Cornell has been favored in 17 of their 25 games, and they have gone 16-1 in those contests. For the year, the Big Red have an average scoring margin of +10.0 points per game at home compared to +2.8 on the road.

This season, the over/under record in Cornell games is 13-10. So far, the average scoring total in their games is 154.9 points, which is lower than the average over/under line of 156.7. Today’s over/under line is set at 158.5. Over their last three games, the average scoring total is 149 points.

Against the spread, Cornell is currently at .500 with an 11-11-1 record. On the road, their ATS mark is 5-8, and over their last 10 road games, the Big Red are 4-6 vs. the spread.

At home this season, Penn has gone 6-5, and they have a scoring differential of +2.6 points per game. Over their last three games at home, the Quakers are 0-3.

Overall, Penn is 10-16, and they have gone 2-9 in Ivy League play. In their last game, they lost to Harvard by a score of 74-70.

Today’s over/under line of 158.5 is higher than the average over/under line in Penn’s games this year (143.2). So far, 20 of their games have finished with less points than today’s over/under line. Over their last three games, the average scoring total is 143 points.

As the underdog this season, Penn has an ATS record of 3-8 and an overall ATS mark of 9-15. Over their last 10 games as the underdog, the Quakers have gone just 3-7 vs. the spread. At home, Penn has an ATS record of 5-6 this year and an ATS mark of 0-3 in their last three home games.

Analysis

Against Brown, Cornell had a tough time putting up points compared to their season average of 82.4 points per game. They scored 74 points and posted a field goal percentage of 44.3% in the game. Leading the team in scoring is Chris Manon, who is averaging 12.6 heading into today’s matchup. Additionally, Nazir Williams also maintains a PPG average of 11.2 heading into the game.

So far, the Big Red’s defense is ranked 221st in the country at 73.9 points per contest. In their previous game vs. Brown, the Bears finished with a field goal percentage of 44% and a total of 78 points vs. Cornell.

Coming off their recent game, the Penn offense tallied 70 points in a matchup against Harvard. Their field goal percentage for the game was 40%, and they made 11 threes. The top scorer for the Quakers was Clark Slajchert with 21 points, while Nick Spinoso also chipped in with 18 points.

On defense, Penn is currently around the NCAA average in points allowed, giving up an average of 72.8 points per game. In their previous game vs. Harvard, the Crimson finished with a field goal percentage of 38% and a total of 74 points vs. Penn.

Betting Trends

• When looking at their past three road matchups, Cornell has an ATS record of 2-1 while averaging 74 per game. The team went 2-1 overall in these games.
• Through their last ten home contests, the Quakers offense has averaged 66 points per game while allowing an average of 76. Penn posted an overall record of 2-8 while going 4-6 ATS.
• Going back to their previous ten games as the underdog, Penn has an ATS mark of 3-7 while going 1-9 straight up.
• Against the spread, the Big Red have put together 0-2-1 in their last three games as the betting favorite. In these same games, they went 2-1 straight up.

Rich Crew’s Pick To Cover The Spread

Cornell’s loss to Brown wasn’t so shocking considering the Bears recent play and keep in mind that their only other Ivy league loss was by two points against a pretty goood Yale team on the road. Take Cornell -4