Illinois vs. Maryland Prediction and Odds for Friday, December 2 (Is Kevin Willard's Team Ready for the Big 10?)
By Josh Yourish
Big 10 basketball is always exciting and it better be especially good this year with Big 10 football letting us down just a bit.
The B1G is much deeper in basketball and these are two of the six conference teams in the AP Top 25 right now. Illinois is No. 16 and after dismantling Syracuse earlier this week, they’re heading to College Park to begin their Big 10 slate with No. 22 Maryland. The Fighting Illini are 6-1, but have really tested themselves in non-conference, while Maryland is sitting pretty at 7-0, but this will be a big step up in competition for the Terrapins.
Big 10 hoops season is here and this will be fantastic, here are the odds for a top 25 matchup.
Illinois vs. Maryland Odds, Spread and Total
Illinois vs. Maryland Prediction and Pick
It looks like Kevin Willard has turned things around in College Park in just one year. The Terps are 7-0, but when you dig into it, it hasn’t been all that impressive. Even the Big 10/ACC challenge didn’t challenge them, because they drew Louisville, probably the worst Power 5 team and maybe one of the worst teams in all of college basketball. So, they have cruised and now they’ll be pushed by Ilinois who have already faced two ranked teams.
UVA is the only team to have beaten Illinois and they’re the No. 3 team in the country. This is a very different Illinois team from the past couple of years because Kofi Cockburn is gone, but Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon Jr. has taken over this team. He’s leading them with 19.9 points a game. Meanwhile, Coleman Hawkins does it all for them. Last game against Syracuse he had a triple-double with 15 points 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He’s leading them with 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals.
Maryland will need to lean on Donta Scott to carry their offense, but I don’t think the Terps will have the guards to keep up with Illinois. Jahmir Young is averaging 13.9 and 3.4 assists, so this will be a big test for him. I just don’t know that Maryland is ready to take this big of a step up in competition while Illinois has already battled with UVA and beaten UCLA.
Pick: Illinois +105
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change