Courtside Players Club NCAAB 1-3 Units (1/23/25)

NCAAB

1 Pick (3 Units).

9PM: Illinois -7.5 (3 Units).

Maryland's 1-4 on the road with their only win coming at Syracuse (122nd KenPom). They have yet to face an elite defense like Illinois's (9th DRtg) so far this season. Maryland's Strength of schedule ranks 128th. They're a quality 3-PT shooting and rebounding team but Illinois' 1st in rebound rate and 3rd in opponent 3-PT %. That's also against the 16th ranked SOS. Illinoi's 10th in adjusted Tempo and Maryland's 71st. Extra possessions are a good thing on the favorite here. Illinois is just better at the things Maryland's good at. Maryland did hang around on the road against Purdue and Oregon, two good teams, but they shot over 42% from deep in each of those games. If Maryland can’t hit perimeter shots, it'll be very hard for them to get clean looks at the Basket.