The lone game on tonight’s Big Ten men’s basketball schedule is a good one as the Maryland Terrapins (4-4, 14-5) are in Champaign to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (5-3, 13-5).
Maryland won at home Sunday against Nebraska, 69-66. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the way with 22 points for the Terps. The Fighting Illini lost a hard-fought game in East Lansing Sunday to the Michigan State Spartans, 80-78. Kasparas Jakucionis is Illinois’ leading scorer averaging 15.9 points per game.
The Fighting Illini’s record in January is 4-2 while the Terrapins’ record is 3-3 this month. Terrapins is 0-4 on the road this season while Fighting Illini is 8-2 at home.
Lets dive into the matchup and offer some information and possibly a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch the opening tip, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Game details & how to watch Terrapins at Fighting Illini
- Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025
- Time: 9:00PM EST
- Site: State Farm Center
- City: Champaign, IL
- Network/Streaming: FS1
Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest scores and player news. Check out our day-by-day NCAA Basketball Schedule Page that includes live game updates.
Game odds for Terrapins at Fighting Illini
The latest odds as of Friday courtesy of BetMGM:
- Odds: Terrapins (+300), Fighting Illini (-374)
- Spread: Fighting Illini -8.5
- Total: 158.5 points
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Expert picks & predictions for Maryland at Illinois
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the Fighting Illini to cover the number: Illinois Fighting Illini -8.5
“Maryland played the 354th ranked strength of schedule in non-conference action and has been blessed with a slew of the bottom-half of the Big Ten to start conference play.
With all that in mind, the Terps are an overvalued team in the market and should be 10-plus point underdogs against Illinois who is the cream of the crop in the Big Ten. Give me the Illini -7.5 out to -8.5 at home off a loss to MSU.”
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NCAA calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, injuries, and the schedule.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Terrapins vs Fighting Illini Best Bets
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Terrapins & Fighting Illini game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Maryland at +8.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the UNDER on the Game Total of 158.5.
Terrapins vs Fighting Illini: Top betting trends and recent stats
- Illinois has covered the Spread in 10 of their 18 games (7-6 at home)
- Maryland is 9-10 ATS this season but just 1-3 on the road
- The Terrapins have lost both times this season they have been dubbed the underdog by oddsmakers
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NCAA Basketball Top Trends Tool on NBCSports.com!
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Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
· Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
· Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
· Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
· Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
