Maryland - Davidson Preview

Maryland (4) Vs. Davidson (13)
Thursday, 3/15 @ 12:20
Betting Line From Bookmaker: Maryland -7

Although the #18 Maryland Terrapins (24- 8, 10- 6 ACC) finished the season in third-place in the ACC, they beat #14 Clemson, #16 Duke and #5 UNC. Those victories got them to the Big Dance. The Davidson Wildcats (29- 4, 17- 1 Southern S) won their conference easily and faced one nationally ranked team-- Duke. Duke hammered them 75- 47.

Maryland has had their seniors step-up in the last month and that should help as they head into the tournament. Senior guard D.J. Strawberry (15.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.4 APG) is the team’s leading scorer and also a fine defender. On the other side of the court, senior guard Mike Jones (13.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG) provides offense but in streaks. Senior forward Ekene Ibekwe (10.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG) has shown good post play as of late. The bench is fairly deep in the guard position.

Davidson is young and inexperienced. Freshman guard Stephen Curry (21.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2,8 APG) leads the team in scoring, while junior point man Jason Richards (13.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 7.3 APG) is a fine playmaker who can see the entire court. Junior forwards Thomas Sander (13.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG) and Boris Meno (11.0 PPG, 8.1 RPG) offer good play off the boards and sound point production.

Maryland has the upper hand with more experience and by having proven themselves against tougher opponents. Davidson will need to keep its cool at the start and put pressure on the skilled Maryland guards. Best play on this game is on the total. Look for these teams to go under the posted total of 155.5.

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