Maryland vs. UConn Betting Line – December 8
Carrie Stroup here with your Maryland vs. UConn betting line for Tuesday night. Maryland -2.5, Total: 141
MARYLAND TERRAPINS (7-1) at CONNECTICUT HUSKIES (5-2)
No. 2 Maryland and Connecticut meet in New York for the second time in three years, this time for the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden.
Coach Mark Turgeon’s Terrapins and coach Kevin Ollie’s Huskies are historically not familiar foes. That said, they will meet just across the bridge from where Ollie got his first NCAA win, a 78-77 defeat of Maryland (Maryland + 5.5) at the Barclays Center to kick off Connecticut’s surprising National Championship season just two years ago. The previous meeting between these two squads was also in New York, albeit upstate NY (Syracuse, in the 2002 NCAA regional finals – in Maryland’s National Championship season).
Both the Terrapins and Huskies have recently lost to former conference rivals, with Maryland dropping their ACC-B1G matchup with North Carolina in Chapel Hill 89-81, barely failing to cover at +7.5, and Connecticut losing to long-time Big East rival Syracuse in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, 79-76 – a game the Huskies were favored in by six points. Connecticut compounded that loss by dropping the consolation game to nationally ranked Gonzaga, 73-70 (push, UConn +3). Both the Terrapins and Huskies hope that their most recent games, blowout wins over NEC schools St. Francis (PA) and Sacred Heart, respectively, have gotten them back on track.
Maryland and Connecticut ironically both held their respective NEC opponents to 29% FG, season bests defensively for each. In their last seven contests combined (Maryland 5, Connecticut 2) the total has gone OVER in every game. Overall, Maryland is 3-4-1 ATS, 2-0 (1-1 ATS) in neutral sites this season. Connecticut is 2-1-1 ATS, 1-2 (1-1-1) in neutral sites. Both squads should be well-represented at Madison Square Garden, given reasonable proximity (roughly three hour drive each) and the large graduate base for both schools in New York City.
F Jake Layman (11.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG) was a sophomore who scored 13 points in the loss to Connecticut in 2013. Maryland was a team looking for an identity, then. It must seem like ages ago for Layman, as four players from that roster have since transferred (and are active on different division 1 squads). With the No. 2 ranking in the country, however, coach Turgeon would seem to be very content with how he’s reshaped this roster. Layman is only taking 7.5 shots per game and is fourth on the squad in scoring, due to all of the new talent on the roster.
That said, the Terrapins star is returning sophomore G Melo Trimble (14.4 PPG, 5.8 APG, 51% FG). Trimble is at his most aggressive offensively when the bright lights are on, as evidenced by 47 points combined against Georgetown and North Carolina.
Of the newcomers that have improved this roster, coach Turgeon must be very pleased with F Robert Carter (13.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 63% FG) and G Rasheed Sulaimon (11.6 PPG, 52% 3PT). Finally on a roster with surrounding talent, Carter isn’t taking poor shots as he did on Georgia Tech his freshman and sophomore seasons, and his field goal percentage reflects that. Even though in a loss, Sulaimon came alive in Chapel Hill for five threes and 18 points. Both Sulaimon and Carter have bought in defensively for Turgeon as well, as they’re two of four starters who average more than one steal per game.
Freshman C Diamond Stone (9.9 PPG, 60% FG) could be finally getting started for the Terrapins. Stone is 17-25 from the field over his last three games, including 9 points and a season-high 21 minutes against North Carolina. Stone is coming off of 16 points in the blowout win over St. Francis (PA) on Friday.
The Terrapins have now made it four straight games shooting 45% or better from beyond the arc after a very slow start to the season, which compliments their outstanding work in general from the field (55%, tied 1st NCAA).
As good as Maryland has been from the field, Connecticut, as they have historically been, is among the nation’s leaders in defense. Led by C Amida Brimah (8.1 PPG, 3 BPG), who was a freshman when these two teams last met last, Connecticut protects the rim (17th NCAA in blocks) and holds opponents to 36% FG (10th NCAA). Maryland’s multi-faceted offense will be as good of a challenge as the Huskies have seen all season, but Connecticut has at least been tested already by the likes of Syracuse and Gonzaga.
While not quite the machine on offense that the Terrapins have been recently, Connecticut is still very solid from the field (48.6%, 38th NCAA) and is scoring 1.18 points per possession (17th NCAA).
Leading the Huskies in scoring is G Rodney Purvis (14.1 PPG, 41% 3PT), who’s finally found his groove on offense after transferring from NC State and failing to live up to considerable hype as an underclassman. If Brimah is the defensive anchor and Purvis is the go-to scorer, G Daniel Hamilton (12.6 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 6.3 APG) is the glue that holds the Huskies together, and arguably their most indispensable player. Hamilton may not get the national press that stat-sheet-stuffers like wunderkind freshman Ben Simmons, or outstanding seniors Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine do, but Hamilton is just as much of a threat for a triple-double on any given night as they are.
In senior F Shonn Miller (12.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG), Ollie was able to pluck arguably the best player in the Ivy League last season (Cornell) and use him as a role player as a graduate transfer. Miller came with a reputation as a two-way player and hasn’t disappointed, recently scoring 19 points in the loss against Gonzaga, while holding season averages of 1 block and just under 1 steal (0.9) per game.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com
