The Minnesota Golden Gophers can be considered a bubble team, s0 a win against the No. 17 Maryland Terrapins on the road this week will definitely be a tremendous boost to their March Madness appeal. As for Maryland, it wants to end the regular season on a positive note at home. At press, NCAA basketball futures price Minnesota at +30,000 to win the National Championship while Maryland is listed at +10,000.
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Betting Preview for the Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Maryland Terrapins College Basketball Game on March 8, 2019
Where: Xfinity Center – MD, College Park
When: Friday, March 8, 2019, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Minnesota Golden Gophers (odds) vs. Maryland Terrapins (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-11 Overall / 8-10 Conference)
The Golden Gophers need a win – a quality win. They can get one on Friday against Maryland, the same team Minnesota lost to last January at home, 82-67. Minnesota has a date with the Purdue Boilermakers this Tuesday at home before meeting Maryland. The Golden Gophers are having a tough time being consistently competitive in the dog-eat-dog world of the Big Ten conference, but they are remain a team that can’t be taken lightly so long as they have the pair of Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy are up and running. Coffey led the Golden Gophers in the loss to Maryland with 16 points. Murphy, on the other hand, only had nine. Minnesota needs both players to bring their a-game against Maryland and hope that its defense will put up a better effort this time around. Coffey leads Minnesota with 15.3 points per game, while Murphy is churning out 14.6. Minnesota also has to stay aggressive and put Maryland in foul trouble for extra chances to score from the foul line.
Minnesota, which is second in the conference in free throw attempts, has its totals go under in each of the last three games away from home.
Betting on the Maryland Terrapins (21-8 Overall / 12-6 Conference)
Maryland is a headache to bet on moneyline odds in Big Ten games. The Terps have taken down elite teams like the Purdue, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Wisconsin Badgers, but also fell prey to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Nevertheless, the Terps will come int o their last home game of the regular season with a psychological advantage over Minnesota. Maryland abused the Golden Gophers’ soft defense in the first meeting, as the Terps shot 54.2 percent from the field. Minnesota could barely do anything to stop the Terps, who went 24-for-27 from the free throw line. The pair of Anthony Cowan and Jalen Smith picked Minnesota apart, scoring 27 and 21 points, respectively. Cowan leads the Terps with 15.9 points per game. Expect Cowan to run circles around Minnesota’s defense again, while Bruno Fernando should play a big role on the glass again. Fernando had 11 of Maryland’s 39 rebounds in the win over Minnesota.
Maryland, which leads the league in offensive rebounding percentage, is 3-1 against the spread (ATS) in its last four home games against Minnesota.
Writer’s Prediction
Maryland wins, 72-64.
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