Pennsylvania vs Harvard Prediction 1/20/25 College Basketball Picks

The Pennsylvania Quakers and the Harvard Crimson meet Monday in college basketball action from Lavietes Pavilion. Here’s a Penn vs Harvard prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Penn vs Harvard pick. We will examine:

The Pennsylvania Quakers’ recent form and player performance

The Harvard Crimson’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pennsylvania Quakers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Harvard Crimson

Recent betting trends in games played between Penn and Harvard

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

Pennsylvania Quakers Betting Preview

Penn opened the season with a promising couple of games, but since then it’s been a struggle. The good news is that the Quakers haven’t experienced any extended losing streaks, but there aren’t many positives otherwise. After wins over NJIT and MD Eastern Shore, Penn fell versus Lafayette, St. Joseph’s, Villanova, and Navy in the next four. The Quakers would then beat Maine and Rider around a trio of losses versus Elon, Drexel, and VCU. The next three were all losses as well. Penn dropped to George Mason, Penn State, and Dartmouth in that time along the way to a rough 4-10 showing through their first 14 games of the season.

In the matchup with Cornell on Saturday, the Quakers were looking at a 42-31 deficit by the end of the first half. Penn got better from there with 45 second-half points but still lost by double-digits 86-76. Leading the team in scoring during the defeat was Ethan Roberts with 26 points, five boards, and one steal. Sam Brown added 15 points with four rebounds and one assist, while AJ Levine put up 13 points with three assists and three steals.

Harvard Crimson Betting Preview

Over on the Harvard side, they also opened the year on a pretty rough run, but to their credit, the Crimson have been better since early December or so. Harvard went 2-4 over their first six games with wins over Marist and Colgate around losses versus Navy, American U, Northeastern, and Colorado in that time. Following a three-game losing streak versus UMass, St. John’s, and Holy Cross, the Crimson recorded a 3-2 stretch over the next five. Those wins were versus New Hampshire, Iona, and Bowdoin among losses versus Furman and Princeton. The result was a 5-9 record through the Crimson’s first 14 outings this year.

Matched up against Brown over the weekend, Harvard carried a slim 35-34 edge into the second half. The Crimson turned on the jets from there on a 45-33 run and took the road victory 80-67 in the end. Harvard’s Chandler Pigge posted a double-double of 17 points with 11 boards, three assists, and two rebounds. Louis Lesmond added 15 points with three rebounds, two steals and two assists in 34 minutes of work as well.

Why the Harvard Crimson will win

• Penn has lost each of its last six road games.
• Harvard has won nine of its last 11 home games against Penn at Lavietes Pavilion.

Why the Penn Quakers will win

• Harvard has lost six of its last seven home day games against the Ivy League.
• Penn has won six of its last seven day games against Harvard.
• Harvard has lost the first half in six of its last seven home day games against the Ivy League.

Penn vs Harvard Prediction

I’ll stick with Harvard. The Crimson were able to keep their run going with a nice performance against a middling Brown team in their last outing. Harvard shot 50 percent from the field in that one with 25 points off 21 Bears turnovers. The Crimson weren’t spectacular on the boards (a 38-32 deficit) or from the line (64.7 percent on 11-of-17) however. Still, Harvard is much improved lately on a 3-1 run over the last four games—and a 4-2 stretch over the last six.

As for Penn, they shot quite well (48.3 percent) from the floor in their latest loss to Cornell, and only had eight turnovers along the way. The problem was the ugly 43-24 deficit on the glass (10-1 offensive), which helped give the Big Red a 40-34 scoring edge in the paint. Penn has given up 73 or more points in four straight, so Harvard should have plenty of good looks in this one—if they can rebound better.