Check out our free Harvard vs Penn pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Philadelphia. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Harvard vs Penn Pick & Preview: Saturday, January 28th Betting Odds
Crimson vs Quakers Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Harvard Crimson at Penn Quakers
- Where: Philadelphia at The Palestra
- Date: Saturday, January 28th
- Betting Odds: Harvard +3.5, HARVRD +142 | PENN -174 O/U 134.5
Crimson Preview:
Harvard heads into this matchup having played 20 games and have an overall record sitting at 12-8. On the road, the Crimson will be playing their 11th game of the season, having gone 7-4. So far, the Crimson have been the underdog 9 times, going 3-6 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +3.5 underdogs on the spread.
Harvard will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Chris Ledlum who is averaging 19.1 points per game for the Crimson. Ledlum is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Crimson’s offensive game plan is the play of Samuel Silverstein who has hit 45.9% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 7.95 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Harvard this season, as they are currently ranked 185th in college basketball at 71.5 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Crimson’s 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 32.9%, placing them 329th in the NCAA.
Quakers Preview:
Through 21 games, the Penn Quakers have an overall record of 10-11. So far this season, Penn has played 9 games at home, sitting with a record of 5-4. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Quakers as the -3.5 point favorites. The Quakers have been favored 11 times, going 7-4 straight up.
Penn will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Jordan Dingle who is averaging 23.58 points per game for the Quakers. Dingle is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Quakers’ offensive game plan is the play of Clark Slajchert who has hit 45.0% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 14.94 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Penn this season, as they are currently ranked 170th in college basketball at 72.0 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Quakers’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 33.5%, placing them 285th in the NCAA.
Free Spread Prediction: Harvard Crimson +3.5
A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both Penn and Harvard are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaing 8.07 and 8.5 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Harvard Crimson to cover as +3.5 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Quakers’ outside shooters to make things difficult for Penn. At +3.5 we like the chances of Harvard covering the spread as underdogs.
