Feb 21, 9:33am | 4 min read

NCAA Basketball Picks & Odds: Iowa vs. Penn State Predictions

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Brian Good gives out two NCAAB picks for Sunday

ANALYSIS

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

Iowa has been a bit disappointing this year. What started the season as a top-5 team with national title aspirations has struggled somewhat in Big 10 conference play. The Hawkeyes dropped two games to Indiana, one to Ohio State and another to Illinois in the past month. They trail Michigan by two points in the standings and are currently 4th in the Big 10.

Despite all this, I love the Hawkeyes today. Penn State has proven to be one of the worst teams in the conference and I think, due to their recent form, Iowa has become a little underrated. Luka Garza is one of the best inside-out scorers you’ll find in the country, and Joe Wieskamp, who is averaging 15.5 points per game, compliments the big man well. Garza continues to dominate, putting up 24.7 points and 8.4 points per game and had a massive showing the Iowa’s win over Wisconsin on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Penn State has dropped four of their last five games and continues to struggle both offensively and defensively. The Big 10 is no picnic, but they haven’t even shown much ability to compete. Myreon Jones is the best scoring option the Nittany Lions have, but he and the rest of PSU don’t have the firepower to keep up with Iowa.

I don’t think a 20-30 point win is out of the question here for Hawkeyes.

Pick: Iowa -10.5 @ -103

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Northwestern Wildcats

We’re going back to the Big 10 for our second pick of the day as Wisconsin takes on Northwestern. I’m not quite understanding the spread here on this one, but I’m jumping at the chance to take Wisconsin. The Badgers are the 15ht ranked team in the country, according to KenPom. Wisco has an Adjusted Efficiency Margin +22.31 and also have the 10th ranked defense in the country.

Meanwhile, Northwestern has been average, at best. They’re in second to last place in the conference, have an AdjEM of just 12.82 and neither their offense nor defense are top-50 units. They are a decent defensive team but struggle to do much offensively with any consistency. Badgers are the play here.

Pick: Wisconsin -6 @ -103