Big Ten basketball is back and two programs off to great starts will begin conference play on Thursday when the Penn State Nittany Lions host the No. 8 Purdue Boilermakers. Penn State and Purdue are both 7-1 on the season and the Nittany Lions' signature win to date was at a neutral site against Virginia Tech, while Purdue had a home win over Alabama and neutral court wins over NC State and Ole Miss. The Boilermakers have won nine of the last 10 head-to-head meetings with Penn State, but the Nittany Lions are 6-4 against the spread during that span.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Penn. The Nittany Lions are 1.5-point favorites in the latest Penn State vs. Purdue odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 149.5. Penn State is the -124 money line favorite (risk $124 to win $100), while Purdue is the +104 underdog (risk $100 to win $104). Before entering any Purdue vs. Penn State picks, you need to see the college basketball predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The model simulates every Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times. It enters Week 5 of the 2024-25 season on a 170-123 betting roll (+2061) on all top-rated college basketball picks dating back to 2023. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has dialed in on Penn State vs. Purdue and just revealed its coveted picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are the college basketball betting lines and trends for Purdue vs. Penn State:
- Penn State vs. Purdue spread: PSU -1.5
- Penn State vs. Purdue over/under: 149.5 points
- Penn State vs. Purdue money line: PSU -124, Purdue +104
- Penn State vs. Purdue picks: See picks here
- Penn State vs. Purdue streaming: FuboTV (Try for free)
Why Penn State can cover
The Nittany Lions are coming off an 87-64 win over Buffalo on Sunday and Yanic Konan Niederhauser was the dominant force in that game. The NIU transfer went 12-for-16 from the floor and scored 27 points to lead all scorers. He's now averaging 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 69.4% from the floor for the season.
Ace Baldwin Jr. dished out 10 assists in the win and leads Penn State in scoring (14.9 points per game) and assists (8.4 assists per game). Penn State ranks third in the country in scoring (91.2 points per game) and the Nittany Lions have five players averaging double-figures in scoring so far. See who to back at SportsLine.
Why Purdue can cover
Meanwhile, Purdue earned an 80-78 win over Ole Miss in the championship matchup of the Rady Children's Invitational in its last outing. Trey Kaufman-Renn continued his impressive season by scoring 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds. He's stepped into a more prominent role this year and is averaging 19.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Myles Colvin also had 20 points while Braden Smith stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. The Boilermakers failed to cover the 3-point spread in that matchup but had covered in three of their four prior games. They covered as 5-point favorites on their last trip to the Bryce Jordan Center with a 76-63 win in Jan. 2023. See who to back at SportsLine.
How to make Penn State vs. Purdue picks
SportsLine's model is leaning Over on the total, predicting the teams combine for 153 points. It also says one side of the spread hits nearly 70% of the time. You can see the model's pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Purdue vs. Penn State, and which side of the spread hits nearly 70% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that is up well over $2,000 on top-rated spread picks since its inception, and find out.