Illinois vs. Maryland Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Saturday, Feb. 17 (Back Road Favorite)
By Reed Wallach
Illinois will look to score a road win on Saturday against Maryland, a team that stunned the Fighting Illini at home last month.
The Fighting Illini are an elite team with a Final Four ceiling, but that didn't stop Maryland from storming into Champaign last month and winning against the highly vaunted Illini.
Can Maryland hold up and get a home win as small underdogs? Or will Illinois even upthe season series?
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Illinois vs. Maryland Odds, Spread and Total
Maryland vs. Illinois Betting Trends
- Illinois is 14-9-1 against the spread (ATS) this season
- Maryland is 10-15 ATS this season
- Illinois is 6-2 ATS on the road this season
- Maryland has gone UNDER in 17 of 25 games this season
- Illinois has gone OVER in 16 of 24 games this season
Illinois vs. Maryland How to Watch
- Date: Saturday, February 17th
- Game Time: 5:30 PM EST
- Venue: Xfinity Center
- How to Watch (TV): FOX
- Illinois Record: 18-6
- Maryland Record: 14-11
Illinois vs. Maryland Key Players to Watch
Illinois
Terrance Shannon: Shannon is off of a 31-point effort while hitting five three’s in the team’s 29-point win, building on his 28 points at Michigan State. The senior wing has been doing it in a myriad of ways all season, the engine behind the Illinois offense rising to sixth in adjusted offensive efficiency per KenPom.
Maryland
Jahmir Young: Maryland’s offense has been tough to come by this season, but Young has been shouldering the load quite effectively. Young is averaging nearly 31 points with five rebounds and four assists. Can he get Maryland over the hump yet again against Illinois?
Illinois vs. Maryland Prediction and Pick
Despite Maryland winning on the road last month, I believe that number should be taken with a grain of salt. ShotQuality deemed it as a fairly convincing Illinois win (61% win probability), mainly due to the fact that Illinois shot 35% on two-point shots and played without Shannon.
Shannon helps open up the Illinois offense that is shooting 36% from beyond the arc in conference play and can offset some of Maryland’s interior defense that is the best in the Big Ten in two-point percentage allowed in conference play.
However, SQ believes that this team is running a bit hot in terms of shot variance. Maryland is owed a four percent rise in expected field goal percentage, and this is a Illinois team that can get into the teeth of the defense and finish at the cup, 30th in field goal percentage at the rim, per Haslametrics.
While the Terps have been competitive in Big Ten play, I can’t trust this team to essentially win a game against an elite offense. The Terps are ultra reliant on getting to the free throw line to offset its poor offense. However, Illinois is a disciplined defense, ranking 23rd in opponent free throw rate this season.
I think Illinois can suffocate Maryland’s porous offense and do enough to secure a road win.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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