7:02 pm
December 10

#4 Maryland @ Penn State

Who will WIN this matchup?

#4 Maryland Terrapins (10-0)

@ Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2)

 

Current odds:

#4 Maryland Terrapins: (-115)

Penn State Nittany Lions: (-106)

 

The line for this game is Maryland by 1 point.

No. 4 Maryland barely survived an upset bid in its Big Ten opener and will try to stay unbeaten when it hits the road for the first time in conference play with a visit to Penn State on Tuesday. The Terrapins, who won all nine of their non-conference games by an average of nearly 19 points, found themselves down 15 at home against Illinois on Saturday before rallying for a dramatic 59-58 win.”We have to be better,” senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. told reporters. “We obviously didn’t play our best game. We’re here to win a championship. This is a good win. Not to take anything away from Illinois, they played a great game.”

The Nittany Lions took a shot at one of the Big Ten’s other top 10 teams in Ohio State but faded late in a 106-74 loss Saturday afternoon. They were within single digits with roughly 14 minutes to go but fell apart shortly after senior leader Lamar Stevens fouled out after getting a technical foul. “I thought in the second half we were playing much better, obviously until Lamar picked up his fifth foul,” coach Patrick Chambers told reporters. “Even so, there were a couple of minutes where we competed and we did some good things.”

Cowan had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win over the Illini and he leads the Terrapins in scoring (16.6), assists (4.4) and steals (1.4). Sophomore forward Jalen Smith notched his sixth double-double of the season Saturday with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Maryland shot a season-low 33.3 percent from the floor as starting guards Eric Ayala (10.6 points per game) and Aaron Wiggins (10.5) combined to hit 5-of-21 shots.

Stevens was limited to a season-low 11 points due to the early exit Saturday and no other starter scored in double digits. Senior forward Mike Watkins, who ranks third on the team in scoring (10.7) and first in rebounding (9.2), was also hampered by foul trouble and finished with six and three, respectively. Sophomore guard Izaiah Brockington took advantage of some increased playing time to produce a season-high 19 points and push his season average to 9.8.

Nittany Lions junior G Jamari Wheeler averaged 2.86 steals over his first seven games but has zero in 50 minutes over his last two.

Smith has 11 blocked shots in a three-game stretch.

The home team has won the last six meetings.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
#4 Maryland Terrapins