La Salle Explorers vs Penn State Nittany Lions Point Spread Picks

La Salle comes off a losing season in which the offense struggled, finishing 11th in the 15-team Atlantic 10 in scoring and 14th in shooting percentage (.413). They come off a loss to Temple, scoring 63 points while shooting 37%. As a team, they're shooting 40.8% after three games. La Salle is on a 15-11 run UNDER the total. Penn State is 3-0, allowing 60.6 points per game. They're 3-0 UNDER the total, part of a 19-9-1 run UNDER. Take La Salle/Penn State UNDER the total. 

The La Salle Explorers were a huge surprise to most last season, making a run all the way to the NCAA Tournament. That success was spearheaded by a superior backcourt of Tyreke Duren, and Tyrone Garter. Those two are back and scoring at a higher rate, and La Salle should once again be a borderline NCAA Tournament team. Penn State has a lot of pieces back, but the pieces return from a team that struggled. Last season on a neutral court, the Nittany Lions were exposed by La Salle 82-57. La Salle has not been slowed down on the road after three straight home games, where they have taken to the road and gone 9-1 ATS in their last 10. The better talent is on the road team that has a good track record of playing as the visitors. Play on La Salle.

The LaSalle Explorers have a quality win with an impressive overtime victory vs. city rival Villanova. The rest of the schedule has been somewhat suspect which includes a 7-point loss to lowly Central Connecticut State. The Explorers are not the type of team that has blowout potential, and that has shown itself by the fact that in their last 18 games their largest margin of victory has been all of 13 points. Penn State have performed well with a win over Providence, and another win over a very solid Bucknell team. This number is simply too big, and Penn State certainly has the ability to be in this one late. Take the points and go with Penn State.