Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions: How to watch online, live stream info, start time, TV channel

Who's Playing

Penn State Nittany Lions @ Minnesota Golden Gophers

Current Records: Penn State 14-15, Minnesota 17-11

How To Watch

When: Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 3:15 p.m. ET
Where: Williams Arena -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV: Big Ten Network
Follow: CBS Sports App
Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
Ticket Cost: $28.00

What to Know

After two games on the road, Minnesota is heading back home. They and the Penn State Nittany Lions will face off in a Big Ten battle at 3:15 p.m. ET on Saturday at Williams Arena. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Minnesota pushed their score all the way to 97 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 105-97 to the Fighting Illini. Minnesota has struggled against the Fighting Illini recently, as their match on Wednesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Dawson Garcia, who scored 29 points. He didn't help Minnesota's cause all that much against the Cornhuskers on Sunday but the same can't be said for this matchup. Elijah Hawkins was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 12 assists.

Meanwhile, the oddsmakers set the bar high, but Penn State and the Hawkeyes didn't disappoint and broke past the 162.5 point over/under on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions took a 90-81 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Hawkeyes. Penn State found out winning isn't easy when your three-point shooting is a whole 26.5% worse than the opposition.

Like Penn State, they lost despite seeing results from several players. RayQuawndis Mitchell led the charge by scoring 16 points along with five rebounds. Mitchell didn't help Penn State's cause all that much against the Hoosiers on Saturday but the same can't be said for this match. Another player making a difference was Qudus Wahab, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds.

The Golden Gophers dropped their record down to 17-11 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.3 points per game. As for the Nittany Lions, they now have a losing record at 14-15.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Minnesota and the Nittany Lions are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Minnesota hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 76.7 points per game. However, it's not like Penn State struggles in that department as they've been averaging 75.8 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

Going forward, Minnesota is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by six points. They might be worth a quick bet since they're sitting on a five game streak of covering the spread when playing at home.