Michigan Wolverines vs Maryland Terrapins Prediction, 12/31/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Michigan Wolverines vs Maryland Terrapins

Date: Thursday, December 31, 2020

Location: XFINITY Center in College Park, MD

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Michigan (+1)

The Michigan Wolverines (7-0) travel to XFINITY Center on Thursday where they'll take on the Maryland Terrapins (6-3). Maryland opens this matchup as 1-point favorites. The over/under opens at 143.

Michigan steps onto the court with a mark of 7-0 on the season. They average 82.0 points per contest (52nd in the country) while hitting 51.5% from the field. The Wolverines are hitting 35.3% on three-point attempts (54 of 153) and 77.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Michigan is pulling down 41.1 boards per contest and is sitting with 126 assists this year, which is 77th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 13.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.1 fouls per game. On the defensive end of the court, the Wolverines are able to force 10.6 turnovers every game while drawing 18.4 personal fouls. They are giving up 34.0% from beyond the arc and they rank 133rd in college basketball in PPG allowed (67.7). The Wolverines defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 36.4% (163 of 448) and they concede 31.1 boards per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 59th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 65 conceded so far this season.

The Michigan Wolverines played the Nebraska Cornhuskers and earned the victory with a final of 80-69 in their last contest. Michigan wrapped up the game with a 50.8% field goal percentage (30 of 59) and made 9 of their 27 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Wolverines made 11 of their 14 shots for a percentage of 78.6%. Pertaining to pulling down boards, they compiled 40 with 7 of them being offensive. They also recorded 16 assists for the game while earning 6 steals and 2 blocked shots. With respect to defending, Michigan let their opponent shoot 50.8% from the field on 30 of 59 shooting. Nebraska totaled 6 dimes and had 6 steals for this contest. Furthurmore, the Cornhuskers snagged 29 rebounds (6 offensive, 23 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Nebraska walked away from this one shooting 60.0% when shooting free throws by converting 12 of their 20 tries. They also converted 7 of 20 attempts from downtown.

Franz Wagner is one guy who was a contributor in the matchup. He accumulated 20 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He played for 34 minutes and also grabbed 9 boards. Wagner walked away from this one shooting 56.3% from the field and totaled 2 dimes. Another guy that came through in the matchup for the Wolverines was Isaiah Livers. He collected 5 rebounds and totaled 4 assists. He went 50.0% from the field for this game by connecting on 6-of-12 (17 points). At the conclusion of this game, Livers saw the court for 37 minutes.

Maryland has a record of 6-3 this season. When it comes to offense, the Terrapins are hitting on 48.3% from the floor, which is ranked 77th in college basketball. Maryland has totaled 671 points on the season (74.6 per game) and they grab 36.0 boards per game. They are getting an assist 14.2 times per game (141st in Division 1) and they are turning it over 10.2 times per game. The Terrapins are committing 15.4 fouls per game and they go 69.6% from the free throw line. The Terrapins defensively are ranked 88th in Division 1 in points given up per game with 65.1. The Maryland defense gives up 36.4% on 3-pointers (78 of 214) and their opposition knocks down 59.8% of their foul shots. They have allowed 11.8 assists and 32.0 boards every game, which has them ranked 115th and 69th in those categories on the defensive end. They are able to force 10.9 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.0% from the field (167th in college hoops).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Maryland Terrapins got the victory with a final of 70-64 when they faced the Wisconsin Badgers. The Terrapins snagged 27 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards for a total of 31 for the game. They blocked 5 tries while getting 3 steals for the contest. The Badgers earned 15 fouls in this contest which got the Terrapins to the free throw line for 15 shots. They were able to convert 12 of them for a rate of 80.0%. In terms of 3-pointers, Maryland made 6 of 17 tries (35.3%). When this game wrapped up, the Terrapins ended up going 26 out of 52 from the floor which had them at 50.0%. The Terrapins allowed the Badgers to make 24 out of their 55 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.6% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 38.1% from distance by connecting on 8 out of 21 and ended up shooting 8 out of 15 from the charity stripe (53.3%). In regard to rebounding, Maryland allowed Wisconsin to get 28 overall (7 on the offensive side).

Eric Ayala was important for the Terrapins in the matchup. He buried 5 of 11 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 45.5%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Ayala pulled down 4 boards in his 34 minutes and accounted for 2 assists in the game. One more player that ended up playing a role for Maryland was Aaron Wiggins. He ended up walking away with 15 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood by way of 6 out of 13 shooting for the game. Wiggins walked away from this one going 46.2% from the field while collecting 2 assists and 9 total rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Maryland (-1)

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