Notre Dame versus Penn St NIT March Madness College Basketball Preview

Published on March 31, 2009 by admin · No Comments

Time: 9:20PM ET TV: ESPN2

In game 2 of the NIT Tournament Semifinals the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the Penn St Nittany Lions. The LVSC send out number had Notre Dame as a 4-½ point favorite with the over under coming in at 139. The early money has been on the underdog Nittany Lions as the Fighting Irish is a 3-½ point favorite. There has been slight money on the under as the total is currently 138. Its worth noting the site of this NIT Semifinal is Madison Square Garden in New York City and it’s the site of the Big East Tournament. The Fighting Irish is very familiar with the site location, which can be an advantage for the Irish outside shooters. Notre Dame hosted all three opponents in the NIT beating UAB 70-64, New Mexico 70-68 and Kentucky 77-67. The victory over Kentucky was the Fighting Irish’s best offensive performance in the NIT Tournament as they hit 44.6% of their shots and 48% from three. Penn St in the NIT hosted George Mason and earned a 77-73 victory and beat a pretty good Rhode Island team at home 73-72. Then in a third round NIT contest Penn St was sent out to the road and beat the Florida Gators 71-62 as a 10 ½ point road underdog. Penn St has shot no lower than 45.3% in the NIT. At only 9.49 turnovers per game Notre Dame is the best in the nation in taking care of the basketball. Half time bettors should note that Notre Dame gives up 6 more points per game in the second half than in the first half as the Fighting Irish gives up an average of 38.6 points per game in the second half. One may also consider playing over the total in the second half as the Fighting Irish averages 39.7 points per game in the second half, which is 3 more than in the first half. Penn St owns a 72-68 road victory against NCAA Tournament Final Four entrant Michigan St.

Trend: Notre Dame is 7-1 to the under in their past 8 games

The Wagerline consensus has 58.6% of the bettors on Notre Dame –3.5

The Wagerline consensus has 59.5 % of the bettors on over 138