Penn St. Nittany Lions vs. Le Moyne Dolphins Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 21st 2023

In what will be the last game before Christmas for both teams, Le Moyne and Penn State will each seek the gift of a nonconference win when they hook up on Thursday at University Park, Pa.

Host Penn State comes into the game at 5-6 overall and is coming off an 82-81 overtime loss to Georgia Tech at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The biggest issue so far for the Nittany Lions has been rebounding.

In its last three games, Penn State has been outrebounded 54-32 by Georgia Tech, 43-31 by Ohio State and 53-31 by Maryland.

For the season, opponents are outrebounding Penn State by 7.3 rebounds a game.

“Look, we’re undersized in some positions weight-wise and height-wise, sometimes athletically,” Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said. “But you’ve got to find it. You’ve got to find more. Man, it’s amazing. The last two games, we found more late and we were a lot better team. I got to continue to find ways for us to rebound over 40 minutes.”

Kanye Clary (17.1 points per game) and Ace Baldwin Jr. (14.4) have been the leading scorers for Penn State.

Le Moyne comes in at 5-7 but should be battle tested playing on the road. The Dolphins have played at Georgetown, Villanova, San Diego and UC Santa Barbara among others in nonconference play.

Coming off a 92-72 win over Division II Houghton University on Tuesday, Le Moyne is led in scoring by Luke Sutherland (16.0) and Kaiyem Cleary (13.1).

“For us, just being in the position we are in, it’s a great way to see just how much we have improved from starting on the road at Georgetown to now finishing the Power 5 nonconference schedule that we’ve had at Penn State,” Le Moyne head coach Nate Champion said. “I think it’s going to be a big test for us. They’re a really good team.

“They pressure the ball more than we’ve seen out of anybody else. If we can take care of the basketball and we can have some poise on the offensive end, it should be a good one.”

–Field Level Media