The No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes head to Maryland to take on the Terrapins in a Big Ten conference matchup Thursday evening. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 7 pm ET at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md.
Maryland will be looking to get back on track after a disappointing loss to Indiana. Iowa hopes to continue its dominating Big Ten performances, coming off a win against a Top 25 team in a two-point victory against No. 15 Rutgers.
This should be an exciting contest for both college basketball fans and those betting online.
Iowa’s Support Players Continue To Dominate
If you are a college basketball fan, you have heard of center Luka Garza. A top candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year, Garza has been nothing short of dominant to start this season.
Garza is leading the nation in points per game with 27.5. Shooting 62.4% from the field, he has also been productive behind the three-point line, shooting 48.7%.
The Hawkeyes come into this game at 9-2 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play, and they will need to continue getting major contributions from other guys like guard Joe Wieskamp if they want to make a serious run at NCAA March Madness. Through 11 games, Wieskamp is averaging 14.5 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Outside of Garza, the other leader on the floor is fifth-year senior Jordan Bohannon. When Bohannon plays well, the offense is a scoring machine. The Hawkeyes rank fifth nationally in points per game at 92.7.
Can Maryland Pull Off The Upset?
Maryland (6-5, 1-4) is coming off a tough loss to a conference foe in Indiana, where it lost 55-63. Maryland’s offense just was not able to get it done on that side of the court.
If Maryland wants to make a headline in college basketball news, it will need guard Eric Ayala to get back on track. Averaging 14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, Ayala is off to his best start in his three years at Maryland, but he will have to be great if the Terrapins want to come away victorious.
The Terrapins will have the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in their starting lineup, guard Aaron Wiggins. In his first year in a starting role, Wiggins is averaging 11.5 points and five rebounds a game. With the guard play from Iowa, Wiggins will have to find ways to not only score but be a factor defensively as well.
The big man for Maryland, who will be responsible for trying to slow down Garza, is forward Donta Scott. Offensively, Scott has been impressive, scoring 12.9 points per game on 63% shooting from the field. His defensive numbers will need to be the leading statistic if Maryland has any chance of the upset.
Hawkeyes vs Terrapins Betting Odds & Lines
The Hawkeyes are a 5 1/2-point favorite on the road, and the over/under is set at 154.
Iowa comes into this game 7-2 against the spread and 8-3 on the over/under. The Terrapins are 5-6 against the spread and 7-3-1 on the over/under.
This will only be Iowa’s third game on the road this season. In the two other road trips, the Hawkeyes are 1-1 against the spread. The Terrapins are 5-2 at home this season against the spread.
The Hawkeyes’ greatest weakness is their lack of defense, giving up over 74 points per game. That statistic really holds no value when you are scoring over 92 points a game.
The Terrapins are only surrendering 66 points a game, but that value should have an asterisk by it due to the lackluster schedule they have played so far.
Iowa should have no issues in this game, and Garza should be nothing short of dominant. If Wieskamp and Bohannon continue their production, this should be a blowout.
The pick here is to take Iowa at -5.5 when making your college basketball picks. If betting the over/under, taking over 154 should be a confident bet.
