The marquee matchup on Wednesday’s college hoops card features the UCLA Bruins going to the east coast for the first time this season when they travel to the Xfinity Center in College Park to face the Maryland Terrapins.
Both teams are inside the AP Top 25, and both plan on contending for their respective conference titles. Nevertheless, this is a non-conference showdown that serves as a measuring stick matchup come March.
Maryland has dropped two straight to quality competition in Wisconsin and Tennessee away from home, while UCLA has been cruising on the west coast since losing to Illinois (who Maryland beat), along with Baylor on a neutral court.
How will Mick Cronin’s bunch respond to a true road game?
First, let’s check out the odds:
UCLA vs. Maryland Odds, Spread and Total
UCLA vs. Maryland Prediction and Pick
This should be a good bounce back spot for Maryland, who made only two of 24 3-pointers against the highest rated defense in the country in Tennessee. The Terps should get plenty of looks from distance against the compact Bruins defense that allows three’s at a top 100 rate this season.
Back at home, I expect we see Maryland get back on track against a UCLA team that has been beating up on inferior competition. The team has feasted on the interior, generating nearly 63% of their points on two’s, but Maryland’s interior defense is fantastic allowing opponents to shoot below 44% from the field, the 29th lowest mark in the country.
I don’t trust this Bruins team just yet, who has played one true road game this season (at Stanford) and this is a step up in class that they haven’t handled well just yet. While I’m still not as bullish as some on Maryland’s long term prospects, this team has been challenged and competed against every team they have faced. I’ll take the Terps to essentially win the game outright. I don’t see much difference between the two teams and will take the home favorite.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.