Pennsylvania vs VCU Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/9/24

The Penn Quakers and the VCU Rams meet Monday in college basketball action from Siegel Center. Here’s a Penn vs VCU prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Penn vs VCU pick. We will examine:

The Penn Quakers’ recent form and player performance

The VCU Rams’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Penn Quakers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the VCU Rams

Recent betting trends in games played between Penn and VCU

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Penn vs VCU game

Penn Quakers Betting Preview

Penn managed a couple of wins out of the gate this year, then fell to Lafayette, Saint Joseph’s, Villanova, and Navy in the next four. After a win over Maine, the Quakers fell again in game eight versus Elon 68-53.

On Saturday versus Drexel, the Quakers were all tied up 30-30 going into the second half. Penn was outscored 30-17 from there, however, ending up with a 60-47 defeat. Tops in scoring was Nick Spinoso with 21 points and seven rebounds.

VCU Rams Betting Preview

Over on the VCU side, they’ve managed a 7-2 run so far. Outside of losses to Seton Hall and Nevada, the Rams have beaten Bellarmine, Boston College, Merrimack, Loyola MD, Miami, Elizabeth City State, and Georgia Southern.

In the Georgia Southern game on Wednesday, the Rams held an eight-point lead by halftime. VCU hit a nice 50-23 run the rest of the way for a blowout win 89-54. Max Shulga did most of the work with 29 points and four rebounds to his credit.

Why the VCU Rams will win

• VCU has won 11 of its last 12 games at Stuart C. Siegel Center.
• Penn has lost each of its last five night games against the Atlantic 10 Conference.
• Penn has lost the first half in nine of its last 10 road night games against non-conference opponents.

Why the Penn Quakers will win

• Penn has won three of its last four games when playing with a rest disadvantage.

Penn vs VCU Prediction

I’m staying with VCU, but the line’s probably a little too thick to mess with. The Rams played a pretty good overall game versus Georgia Southern in their last matchup, shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) from the line. The 13 turnovers were just about the only thing to complain about. The Rams have scored 77 or more points in six of their seven victories so far this year, and a combined 192 points in their last pair.

As for Penn, on Saturday they hit the wall in the second half and ended up shooting just 33.9 percent from the field with a 40-29 rebounding deficit. That makes just 100 combined points over the last two games for the Quakers, so I’m not bullish on their scoring chances here either.

Andrew Jett's Pick: VCU Rams -22.5