4:33 pm
December 12

#20 Florida v. Maryland

Who will WIN this matchup?

#20 Florida Gators (7-2)

Maryland Terrapins (5-4)

 

Current odds:

Florida Gators: (-210)

Maryland Terrapins: (+175)

 

• The spread for the game is Florida by 5 points.

• Florida (7-2) opened this week with a shocking 69-54 loss at home to winless Texas Southern. According to @ESPNStatsInfo, it was the first time in AP rankings history that a team from the Southwest Athletic Conference upset a ranked squad from the Southeastern Conference in 52 meetings.

• Meanwhile at Maryland (5-4), the Terps are reeling after a weekend that saw the sudden departure of 11-year coach Mark Turgeon, followed two days later by their first-ever loss at home to Northwestern. Maryland has taken the hardest fall. It also reached No. 20 this year, but a 2-4 mark in the past six games has purged the Terps from the rankings.

• With seven days between games, interim coach Danny Manning has a chance to address the ills that have plagued the Terps. Under Turgeon, Maryland always was solid defensively. But the offense often struggled in a stagnant, unimaginative, perimeter-oriented scheme. The woes became more apparent this year as the Terps shot 41 percent from the floor and 28.9 percent from beyond the arc, both among the lowest figures in the Big Ten. Maryland’s top scorers Eric Ayala (13.1 points per game) and Fatts Russell (12.1) form one of the most experienced backcourts in Division I, but they are shooting at a combined 34.7 percent clip.

• Parallels can be drawn between Turgeon and Florida coach Mike White, who has guided the Gators to four NCAA Tournament appearances in his six years but had to fend off mounting criticism last year when the Gators were a No. 7 seed and lost to No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in the second round. This season, Florida opened with six straight wins, including three over Power Five schools. But a 74-67 loss at Oklahoma brought a hangover that lingered all the way to Monday, according to White, as the Gators suffered their historic defeat.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
#20 Florida Gators
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