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Northwestern vs. Maryland Expert Pick – February 26, 2023

Northwestern vs. Maryland Expert Pick - February 26, 2023

NORTHWESTERN VS. MARYLAND EXPERT PICK - FEBRUARY 26, 2023 - Greetings and salutations college basketball fans.

One of the more intriguing games you may want to check out from Sunday’s slate of games includes the Northwestern Wildcats (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten) taking on the Maryland Terrapins (19-9, 10-7).

Let’s look at what should be an interesting matchup between two of the top five teams in the Big Ten conference. 

Click here to read James' preview of Illinois vs. Ohio State.

The Odds

Matchup

Open

Spread

Points

Moneyline

Northwestern

(20-8)

+6.5

+6.5

o128.5

-225

Maryland

(19-9)

u130.5

-6.5

u128.5

-275

Tipoff

When: Sunday, February 26th at 12:00 pm EST

Where: Xfinity Center, College Park, MD

TV: BTN

Public Bets: Northwestern, 68%

Public Money: Northwestern, 61%

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of February 26th, 2023

Northwestern and Maryland Exceeding Expectations

Aside from both teams playing in the same conference, there are a few other similarities between these two programs.

For instance, both teams are coming off losing seasons. Given that fact, neither of them was picked to do very well this season.

Furthermore, both Northwestern and Maryland have defeated the Purdue Boilermakers – the team with the best record in the Big Ten conference. 

Northwestern Coming Off a Difficult Loss, Maryland Cruises to Victory in Previous Outing

In Maryland’s most recent outing, they defeated the Minnesota Gophers with a convincing 88-70 on Wednesday night.

They did so with some very efficient shooting. Maryland shot 68.1 percent from the floor and converted seven of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Julian Reese (21 points), Hakim Hart (20 points), and Donta Scott (18 points) paced the Terrapins’ scoring attack.

The trio combined to shoot 22-for-28 from the field. 

Meanwhile, the Wildcats are smarting from a loss to the Fighting Illini on Thursday night. Despite leading by 16 points with 11 minutes to play, Northwestern crumbled down the stretch, enabling the Illini to escape with a 66-62 win.

Wildcats’ guard Boo Buie scored a career-high 35 points on 12-for-24 shooting from the floor. He also shot 6-for-11 from 3-point range.

Unfortunately, the other four starters produced just 14 points, while shooting an abysmal 5-for-26 from the field. And as a team, the Wildcats shot 34.9 percent from the field. Northwestern will need to bring its “A” game if they hope to knock off a Maryland squad that has won 15 of its 16 games at home. 

The Picks

Over/Under

The predicted O/U total for this contest is 129.5 points per contest. That is an indicator that the two teams could exceed the predicted total. However, recent trends say otherwise. 

The UNDER has a 5-2 record in Northwestern’s last seven games that were played on Sunday. Also, the UNDER has a 5-0 mark in the last five games in which the Wildcats faced a team with a winning percentage above .600. Maryland has a winning percentage of .679.

It is also worth mentioning that the UNDER has an 11-2 mark in Maryland’s last 13 games following a straight up win. Additionally, the UNDER has a 15-7 record in the Terrapins’ last 22 games. Simply put, go with the UNDER in this one. 

Spread

The current spread has the Terrapins winning this game by six points. 

Maryland is a perfect 5-0 against the spread in its last five home games against teams with a winning road record. Northwestern has won six of its nine road contests. 

The Terrapins are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games in which they have faced a team with a winning straight up record. The Wildcats are 20-8.

Maryland has an impressive 19-7 record ATS in their last 26 home games. And five of their last six victories at home were by a double-digit margin. With that being said, I fully expect Maryland to win and cover the six-point spread.

James' Picks

UNDER 129.5 total points

Terrapins (-6)

1 Comment

  1. Pingback:Big Ten Tournament 2023: Expert Picks and Predictions

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