The No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers return home for one game as they tip off against the No. 21 Maryland Terrapins at the Kohl Center. These two teams met on January 14 at the Xfinity Center with Maryland securing a 64-60 victory, continuing the trend of win one, lose one over the last four tests in this rivalry. Oddsmakers see this trend continuing tonight as the Badgers are a 5-point favorite with the total Sportsbook at 131 points.
- The total has gone UNDER in seven of Wisconsin’s last eight games.
- Wisconsin is 4-0 SU and ATS in its last four games.
- Wisconsin surrenders the eighth-fewest points per game in the nation this season (61.5).
Maryland vs Wisconsin Game Center
Badgers Looking to match season-high winning streak
Confidence is high for Wisconsin as it enters tonight’s game, picking up four straight victories, including handing then-No. 2 Michigan its only loss of the season with a 64-54 home win. A triumph tonight would tie Wisconsin’s season-high winning streak as it kicked off the year with five straight wins before falling to then-No. 4 Virginia.
The key to victory doesn’t come from the offense for the Badgers as they rank 176th with 72.2 points per game, a figure that has plummeted to 66.4 ppg through their 10 Big Ten games but rises to 77.2 at the Kohl Center. They do a good job shooting from beyond the arc, ranking 148th with 23.9 ppg from downtown, which has risen to 25 ppg over the four-game winning streak. They only take 20 attempts per game from long range (265th), but they make their shots count by hitting 39.9 percent of those attempts to rank eighth.
On the defensive side of the ball, Wisconsin has been fantastic, giving up 61.5 points per game for the No. 8 mark in the nation and yielding just 52.3 ppg over its last three games, fourth-best over that span. It ranks 13th in college basketball by restricting opponents to a shooting percentage of 39.3 and holds them to the 12th-lowest percentage from two-point range.
Terrapins have dropped their last two games away from home
Maryland has dropped two of its last three contests, after going on a seven-game winning streak through the majority of January, including a 64-60 home victory over Wisconsin. Each of those Terrapins defeats came on the road, falling 69-55 at the Breslin Center to then-No. 6 Michigan State, followed by a neutral-site 78-67 loss to Illinois.
Offensively, the Terrapins pour in an average of 75 points per game to rank 104th, but over their last nine contests vs Big Ten opponents that average has dropped to 71.33. Furthermore, they haven’t had much success away from home, chipping in just 68.6 ppg. Maryland doesn’t take that many shots from beyond the arc, averaging 20.2 per game, but that accounts for 36.1 percent of its shot attempts and it hits 36.9 percent of those attempts to rate 62nd.
Meanwhile, Maryland has done a good job restricting its opponents’ scoring, limiting them to just 65.6 points per game which are the 34th-fewest in the nation. One area of concern for tonight’s game is that the Terrapins allow an average of 22 points per game from downtown, ranking 140th, which could be an area that Wisconsin may be able to exploit. Additionally, they rank 204th in opponent shots per game and a reason for this may be that they average 13.3 turnovers per game (172nd). Fortunately for them, the Badgers average 11.9 takeaways per game, ranking 282nd.
Is an UNDER in store for tonight’s game?
Two defensive-minded teams tip off tonight and Sportsbook has the total Sportsbook at 131 points. Wisconsin has been on an UNDER tear recently, going UNDER in seven of its last eight games, with only one game going OVER 131 points. Meanwhile, Maryland has gone UNDER in four of its last five games, with three of those contests going UNDER 133 points.
Additionally, the Badgers and Terrapins met just over two weeks ago and played to a combined score of 124. I think these teams are very evenly matched both offensively and defensively and I think they will hit another UNDER tonight.
My take on Maryland vs Wisconsin
I like Wisconsin to cover the 5-point spread. The last time the Badgers hosted the Terrapins, they picked up a 71-60 triumph, their second straight double-digit victory over Maryland. In their first meeting on January 14, Wisconsin had just 15 points in the first half, going 0-for-10 from beyond the arc, yet the Badgers were still able to make a game of it in the end, falling just 64-60.
I think Wisconsin is an all-around better team, with a better shooting percentage both inside and outside, while also being better defensively. The Badgers shoot 39.9 percent from three-point range, and the Terrapins rank 140th in ppg from three-point range. Additionally, Maryland’s offense slows on the road, and Wisconsin allows the eighth-fewest ppg in the nation.
