No reason. Terrible match-up for NU. PSU is a big physical team and NU beat them only when PSU were missing their best defensive guard, Josh Reaves. PSU will pressure the few remaining NU guards and just wear the Cats out. NU fights hard but loses by 15 or more. Sad.
Of course, given Fitzphile tremendous prognosticative abilities, especially with respect to Penn State, this means that the odds for a Cat victory just improved by a thousand percent!
But seriously, whether or not Mike Watkins can plan should be a HUGE factor in this game. Part of the reason why we saw so much of Benson and Pardon together on Friday is that I believe Collins' is anticipating that Watkins will be out on Thursday. Penn State essentially has no backup for Watkins, and it showed vs. Nebby, who just did anything they wanted inside (46-28 points in paint advantage, 22-6 second chance, and 45-28 on the boards) in a game, that was over at halftime as Penn State only managed 17 first-half points despite the fact that Nebby's inside presence is nowhere near as good as ours. Thus, Pardon should have an absolute field day if Watkins is out, and Benson would obviously be a tough matchup for PSU as well if we go two bigs.
The loss of Watkins also evens up the depth with us dramatically, as PSU essentially only went 7 deep against Nebby (Watkins' backup played on 4 minutes, and another player played 6). If we somehow are able to play both Law and BMac, the depth advantage actually swings to us, and even without them, we are not as undermanned as we might be if Watkins doe not play.
So, there is reason for optimism, imo. Can we capitalize? Don't know, but without Watkins, it is no longer a terrible matchup for us.
This is the latest update from their coach on Watkins. From this, it does not sound like he will play on Thursday, but who knows as always given coachspeak:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...gives-update-on-injured-forward-mike-watkins/
