#3 Iowa Hawkeyes at #8 Maryland Terrapins
XFINITY Center – College Park, Maryland
Thursday, January 28, 2015, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Maryland -4
Current Line: Maryland -4
Opening Total: 145
Current Total: 146
Opening Money Line: Maryland -185 / Iowa +165
Current Money Line: Maryland -185 / Iowa +165
It has been a banner year for the University of Iowa athletic programs. First the football team went 12-0 in the regular season and went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years. Now, the men’s basketball team is 16-3 and ranked #3, their highest ranking ever. Iowa faces a very tough test Thursday night as they travel to the 17-3 Maryland Terrapins who are #8 in the polls. The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten at 7-0 by a half game over 7-1 Indiana. The Terrapins are tied for third at 6-2 with Michigan.
This is the fifth meeting between Iowa and Maryland. The series is tied 2-2. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting 71-55 last year in Iowa City in Maryland’s first year in the Big Ten. This is the first meeting between the teams in College Park.
Iowa is coached by Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes have losses to Dayton and Notre Dame in a tournament at Disney World. Iowa also lost at in-state rival Iowa State. The Hawkeyes have won 9 straight games since the Iowa State loss. The Hawkeyes have road wins at Marquette, Purdue, Michigan State, and Rutgers, a neutral site win over Wichita State at Disney, plus home wins over Florida State, Drake, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan and Purdue 83-71 Sunday. Iowa is 10-6 ATS and the total is 10-6 this season. Iowa was a 2.5 point favorite against Purdue and the total was 142.5.
Maryland is coached by Mark Turgeon. The Terrapins have road losses at North Carolina, Michigan, and Michigan State 74-65 last Saturday. The Terrapins have home wins over Georgetown, Cleveland State, Princeton, Marshall, Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State and Northwestern. Maryland has neutral site wins over Illinois State and Rhode Island in a tournament in Cancun, and Connecticut in New York City. The Terrapins have road wins over Northwestern and Wisconsin. Maryland is 9-11 ATS and the total is 9-10-1 this season. The Terrapins were 4 point underdogs at Michigan State and the total was 143.5.
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Iowa is outscoring teams 82-68 this season. The Hawkeyes are #25 in scoring nationally. Iowa is shooting 47% from the field and 41% from 3 point range. The Hawkeyes are #49 in field goal shooting and #9 in three point shooting. Iowa makes 73% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 40.9% from the field and 30.2% from three point range. The Hawkeyes are #22 in three point defense. Iowa averages 38.2 rebounds a game and opponents average 34.1 per game. Iowa averages 17.8 assists, 9.9 turnovers, 7.1 steals and 6 blocks per game. Opponents average 13.4 assists, 13.8 turnovers, 4.9 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
Forward Jarrod Uthoff averages 18.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 3 blocks per game. Guard Peter Jok averages 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Forward Adam Woodbury averages 8.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Mike Gesell averages 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Anthony Clemmons averages 8.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Dom Uhl averages 7.4 points and 4.2 revbounds per game. Nicholas Baer, Brady Ellington, Andrew Fleming, and Ahmad Wagner will also get time in the rotation. Forward Dale Jones is out for the season with a knee injury.
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Maryland is outscoring teams 77-64 this season. The Terrapins are #30 in points allowed naturally. Maryland is shooting 50.3% from the field and 37.4% from 3 point range. The Terps are #5 in field goal percentage. Maryland is #7 nationally in free throw shooting at 76.3% from the line. Opponents are shooting 40.4% from the field and 31.2% from three point range. Maryland averages 36.8 rebounds a game and opponents average 27.8 per game. The Terps are #16 nationally in rebounds allowed. Maryland averages 14.5 assists, 13.2 turnovers, 5.8 steals and 5.3 blocks per game. Opponents average 10.8 assists, 11.4 turnovers, 6.5 steals and 2.9 blocks per game.
Guard Melo Trimble averages 14.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Forward Robert Carter averages 13.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1 steal and 1.6 blocks per game. Diamond Stone averages 13.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Jake Layman averages 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. Rasheed Sulaimon averages 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. Jared Nickens, Damonte Dodd, Michal Cekovsky and Jaylen Brantley will also get minutes in the rotation. Guard Dion Wiley is out for the season with a knee injury.
Iowa is 8-1 ATS against teams with winning records, 8-2 after a straight up win, 10-3-1 against Big Ten teams, 6-2 overall, and 7-3 against teams with winning records.
Maryland is 10-4 against Big Ten teams, 19-9 after a straight up loss, and 0-5 in Thursday games.
Iowa already has road wins at Michigan State and Purdue in conference play. Still, a trip to College Park is never a picnic, especially as talented as Maryland is. This is a battle between Iowa’s offense and Maryland’s defense. I like the Terps to win a close low scoring game at home.
