Maryland vs Mount St. Mary’s Prediction Basketball Picks 11-7-23

The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers and the Maryland Terrapins meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Xfinity Center College Park. Mount St. Mary’s posted a disappointing 13-20 record last year, finishing far down the standings of the MAAC. As for Maryland, they managed a 22-13 overall record a season ago, ultimately falling in the Second Round of the national tournament. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers 

Mount St. Mary’s wasn’t able to improve on their 2021-22 season record last year, going 13-20 overall with an 8-12 record in the MAAC. The Mountaineers finished above only three teams in the conference standings (Canisius, Saint Peter’s and Marist). Mount St. Mary’s beat Canisius in the first round of the conference tournament before falling to Iona 74-54. 

Dan Engelstad is back for his sixth season at the helm of the Mountaineers. He’ll have to deal with a bit of turnover from last year’s team. The big loss is leading scorer Jalen Benjamin (16.0 PPG), who is off to Santa Clara. Instead we’ll get a heavy dose of senior Dakota Leffew (13.1 PPG), senior Xavier Lipscomb (4.0 PPG) and forward George Tinsley (7.1 PPG). 

Maryland Terrapins 

Over on the Maryland side, they managed to make some waves in a crowded Big Ten last year, finishing 22-13 overall with a 11-9 conference run. The Terrapins finished in fifth place with that effort, but were bounced by Indiana 70-60 in the second game of the Big Ten Tournament. After a First Round NCAA Tournament win over West Virginia, Maryland would fall to Alabama in the Second. 

Head coach Kevin Willard has some legitimate pieces to work with in his second year at Maryland. All-Big Ten second team selection Jahmir Young (15.8 PPG) headlines the returners, and he’ll have four-star recruit DeShawn Harris-Smith by his side. Indiana transfer Jordan Geronimo started six games for the Hoosiers last year and is a very interesting addition to a deep lineup. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m staying with Maryland. Many pundits are writing the Terrapins off this season after a strong showing in 2022-23. A closer look at the lineup reveals a pretty stacked team however. On paper at least, Maryland has a lot of depth, even without Hakim Hart (Villanova) and Don Carey on the roster. There’s plenty of versatility here, which will give Willard the opportunity to move pieces around freely after injury and fatigue begin to set in. The Terrapins should be able to post a better record on the road this season (they went just 2-9 last year) and should also make some noise in the conference once again. There aren’t a ton of expectations to deal with, either. This is a team to watch.