Maryland Terrapins at Villanova Wildcats, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, January 15, 2011, 1:00 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: Villanova -5
Current Line: Villanova -6
Opening Total: 145
Current Total: 147
Money Line: Villanova -250 / Maryland +210
The seventh-ranked Villanova Wildcats (15-1) will look to extend their winning streak to 11 games on Saturday when they host the Maryland Terrapins (11-5) in a key non-conference nationally televised Big East-ACC matchup. The Terps could certainly use a quality road victory against a Top 10 opponent like the Wildcats (-6) to help their resume for the NCAA tournament.
Villanova will need to find a way to contain Maryland’s 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Jordan Williams, who averages 17.7 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Williams had 19 points and 12 rebounds in last year’s meeting with the Wildcats, but the Terrapins still came up short in a 95-86 loss. The strength of Villanova remains in the backcourt, where senior guards Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher combined to score 38 points and made nine 3-pointers between them.
However, the Wildcats have also seen improved play inside recently by their own 6-10 sophomore forward Mouphtaou Yarou, who helped them outrebound Louisville by a 41-23 margin in an 88-74 win on Wednesday. Yarou finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Cardinals and gives the team another big body in addition to Antonio Pena. He did not play in last year’s meeting with Maryland, but Pena scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
This will be the third straight road game for the Terps following a 74-55 victory at Wake Forest on Wednesday. Williams made just 2 of 13 shots from the field but still finished with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. As a team, they connected on only 38.2 percent (26-of-68) of their shots from the field, but Cliff Tucker made 6 of 13 to finish with a team-high 21 points.
That win over the Demon Deacons followed a tough 71-64 loss at Duke last Sunday in which Maryland trailed 32-31 at halftime and hung around for most of the second half. Williams totaled 23 points and 13 rebounds against the Blue Devils, who won despite shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 65.2 percent from the free-throw line. The Terrapins were slightly worse though, shooting 39.4 percent form the field and 52.9 percent from the charity stripe.
A 1-2 mark in conference play so far for Maryland means a victory here could definitely help the team’s case for an at-large invitation to the Big Dance down the road. The same can be said for Villanova even though the Wildcats seem like a lock at this point due to their strong start. They have covered their last four games with the OVER going 4-1 in their past five.
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