Maryland men’s basketball gears up for the start of Big Ten play Friday night against Indiana, and the Terps will officially be underdogs on the road.
Indiana is a three-point favorite, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Maryland is a +140 money line underdog, with Indiana as a -166 money line pick. The scoring total is set for over/under 137 points.
Tip is set for 7 p.m. Friday night on Big Ten Network.
Maryland basketball vs. Indiana: Preview, how to watch Terps’ first Big Ten game
Maryland (4-3) is just 2-5 against the spread this season, according to The Action Network. The Terps covered big numbers in wins over Rider and UMBC and failed to do so in wins against South Alabama and Mount St. Mary’s. Maryland lost neutral-site games to Davidson and UAB as outright favorites and did not cover the 6.5-point spread as an underdog in a 17-point loss at Villanova.
Indiana (5-1) also holds a poor 1-5 record against the spread, according to The Action Network. The only game Indiana has covered was its most recent game against Harvard, an 89-76 win as a 7.5-point favorite. Indiana did not cover big numbers as a favorite in wins against Florida Gulf Coast, Army, Wright State and Louisville. Its lone loss was to UConn at Madison Square Garden, a 20-point loss as an 11-point underdog.
Friday night’s game features the two worst 3-point shooting teams in high-major basketball, per KenPom.com. Maryland is shooting 23.8% and Indiana is shooting 24.1% from beyond the arc, the 354th and 351st best marks, respectively, of 362 teams in Division I.
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Maryland is riding a three-game winning streak, taking care of its three-game homestand with double-digit wins over UMBC, South Alabama and Rider. Following the Rider game, Kevin Willard talked about how he is feeling about the team heading into conference play.
“Yeah, I mean … I kind of knew this is, this was how the season was gonna go, to be honest with you,” Willard said. “I really wanted to take advantage of these 10 days of practice to kind of – I knew we were going to struggle early. So these guys have put in a great amount of work in practice. And so I feel good, I don’t think we’re there yet. I think we still have a lot more, a lot of work to do, but they’re trending in the right direction.”
Friday’s game is Maryland’s last of the week. The Terps will return to the floor next Wednesday at the XFINITY Center, hosting Penn State in the second of two early-December Big Ten games.