Who's Playing
Rider Broncs @ Penn Quakers
Current Records: Rider 4-7, Penn 3-7
How To Watch
- When: Friday, December 20, 2024 at 6 p.m. ET
- Where: Palestra -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- TV: ESPN Plus
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $16.00
What to Know
After two games on the road, Penn is heading back home. They will welcome the Rider Broncs at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday at Palestra. The Quakers hasn't scored more than 53 points for three games straight, a trend the squad is eager to reverse.
Penn is headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week's over/under low at 139.5, but even that wound up being too high. They wound up on the wrong side of a bruising 66-47 walloping at the hands of VCU last Monday. The Quakers were surely aware of their disadvantage in the point spread, but the foreknowledge did nothing to prevent the result.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Nick Spinoso, who went 5 for 8 en route to 12 points plus seven rebounds and five assists. Sam Brown, on the other hand, was considerably less helpful: he went 0-5 from downtown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Penn struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only five offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Rider's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their fifth straight loss. The game between them and Stony Brook wasn't a total blowout, but with Rider falling 72-55 at home it was darn close to turning into one. The Broncs didn't live up to their potential and found themselves falling short of the advantage oddsmakers thought they had coming into the game.
Like Rider, they lost despite seeing results from several players. Flash Burton led the charge by scoring 13 points in addition to two steals.
Penn's defeat dropped their record down to 3-7. As for Rider, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.
Looking forward, Penn is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 4.5 points. Neither team has fared well against the spread this season; they are 2-8, while Rider is 4-7.
Penn didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Rider when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 77-73 victory. Will Penn repeat their success, or does Rider have a better game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Odds
Penn is a 4.5-point favorite against Rider, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Quakers as a 3.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 132.5 points.
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Series History
Penn won the only game these two teams have played in the last year.
- Dec 23, 2023 - Penn 77 vs. Rider 73