A colossal encounter between two ranked teams is set to take you on a roller coaster ride as the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins play host to the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes, who are 7-0 in conference play this season. Can the Terrapins finally hand Iowa its first loss opposite a Big Ten team? Or will the Hawkeyes prevent them from doing so?
Read on below for a detailed breakdown of this Big Ten matchup. And if you’re craving for some NBA action as well, you can check out our preview of the Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Maryland Terrapins Preview
Where: XFINITY Center, College Park, Maryland
When: Thursday, January 28, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Iowa Hawkeyes (+4) vs. Maryland Terrapins (-4)– view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Iowa Hawkeyes (16-3, 7-0 Big Ten)
[sc:NCAAB240banner]Ever since their heart-breaking loss to Iowa State on December 10, the Iowa Hawkeyes have won their next five games to catapult themselves up the standings. They boast a 16-3 overall record and an untarnished 7-0 conference mark, which is good for second-place in the Big Ten.
A testament to their success has been none other than their dynamic one-two punch in Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok. The two lead the team in scoring this season, posting 18.9 PPG and 14.7 PGG respectively. Uthoff, in particular, has been quite impressive lately with averages of 21.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 2.7 BPG in his previous six games. He’s also gone 16-of-30 from three-point territory during that stretch.
Both Uthoff and Jok will definitely be looking to establish their presence when they pay their rivals in the Maryland Terrapins a visit at XFINITY Center tonight. Iowa is 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS in its last 10 contests.
Defense, however, is arguably the most important thing that the Hawkeyes will need to focus on. They’ll be trying to stop the Terrapins’ trio of scoring monsters in Melo Trimble, Robert Carter and Diamond Stone, who are all putting double-figure numbers this year. Iowa’s defense is surrendering 67.0 PPG in its current nine-game winning streak.
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Betting on the Maryland Terrapins (17-3, 6-2 Big Ten)
Meanwhile, the Maryland Terrapins head into this matchup aiming to move on from a nine-point loss to Michigan State last Saturday night. In that game, the Terps struggled to rack up the points as they only shot 38.6% collectively. The lone bright spot was only Melo Trimble, who delivered team-highs of 24 points and seven rebounds.
Now, Trimble and co. will hope to immediately right their ship when they lock horns with the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes at the XFINITY Center this evening. Maryland is 10-0 SU and 5-5 ATS in its previous 10 home games.
Matching up with one of the best offensive teams in the league is no easy task, but Maryland won’t be intimidated by Iowa’s loaded offense (81.7 PPG) at all. The Terps’ defense has been pretty solid thus far this season, yielding just 64.1 PPG (23rd in the nation). But if for some reason they can’t take care of business at this side of the court, the offense will have to pick up the slack through their reliable stars in Trimble, Robert Carter and Diamond Stone.
Trimble leads the team in scoring (14.5) and assists (5.7) this season and has also finished in double-figures in six of his last 10 outings. Carter (13.2 PPG) and Stone (13.2 PPG), on the other hand, are coming off quiet performances opposite the Spartans, but they can certainly pile up the points at any given moment and cause trouble for opposing teams in various ways.
Writer’s Prediction
Maryland (-4) wins it, 90-85.
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