Game of the Week CBB 10*
(NCAAB) UCLA vs. Maryland,
Money Line: -125.00 Maryland (Home)
Result: Loss
#664 ASA TOP PLAY ON Maryland -120 over UCLA, Wednesday at 9 PM ET - We really like this spot for Maryland. The Terps started the season 8-0 including 5-0 at home. They have since lost back to back games vs 2 very formidable opponents. Last week Maryland lost by 5 in Madison vs Wisconsin and over the weekend they lost by 3 on a neutral court to one of the top teams in the nation, Tennessee. In their 56-53 loss to the Vols, the Terps made only 2 of 24 three pointers (8%) and were outscored by 15 from beyond the arc but still nearly won the game. Now back at home in a semi desperate situation off 2 losses, we see Maryland playing very well. UCLA has won 5 straight games but they haven’t left the state of California since November 20th. Their only true road game this season was @ Stanford. The Bruins did have 2 neutral site games in November in Las Vegas which is a very short trip and they lost both vs Baylor and Illinois, a team Maryland beat at home already this season. This is a long trip, west coast to east coast, for UCLA and on top of that they have a huge game in New York City on Saturday vs Kentucky. The Bruins get to the FT line very infrequently (12.7% of their points) while Maryland scores 20% of their points at the stripe. That could be the difference here. Both teams also prefer to play inside the arc with UCLA scoring 62% of their points and Maryland 52% from 2 point land. Defensively, the Terps are outstanding defending inside the 3 point line allowing 43% shooting (29th nationally) while UCLA not so much giving up almost 53% shooting (261st). The Bruins lost 4 of their top 6 players from last year’s team and have a number of freshman in their rotation. This will be their first big true road game and we like Maryland to win this one at home.