The Northwestern Wildcats and the Maryland Terrapins meet Sunday in college basketball action from Xfinity Center College Park. Northwestern is 5-2 so far this year and coming of a loss to Wake Forest. As for Maryland, they’re 5-3 on the season and lost to Virginia Tech in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northwestern started out the year with a nice four-game win streak, taking out Eastern Illinois, High Point, New Orleans and Fairleigh Dickinson. Since then it’s been a win over Georgia between losses to Providence and Wake Forest.
In the loss to Wake Forest back on Tuesday, the Wildcats came back from a five-point halftime deficit to force overtime but ultimately lost 77-73 after the extra period. Pete Nance led the team on 15 points with seven boards and five assists.
Over on the Maryland side, they went 3-1 in their first four games with wins over Quinnipiac, George Washington and Vermont before a loss to George Mason. After two more wins, the Terrapins lost their last pair to Louisville and Virginia Tech.
Back on Wednesday versus Virginia Tech, Maryland posted identical 31-29 deficits in both halves on the way to a 62-58 loss. Qudus Wahab led the way on 18 points with seven boards, and Donta Scott put up 11 points with seven rebounds.
The Terrapins are 0-4 ATS in their last four home games and 1-4 ATS in their last five overall. Maryland is 4-1 ATS in their last five Sunday games.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 0-5 ATS in their last five Sunday games and 6-1 ATS in their last seven after an ATS loss. The under is 5-0 in Northwestern’s last five after an ATS loss.
PICK: I’m going to try Northwestern here. Both teams are coming off tough losses and could use a bounce-back, though. In any case, the Wildcats hung around well with a good Wake Forest team in their last outing despite shooting a tepid 37.7 percent from the field. Northwestern posted 45 rebounds and 16 team assists on the way to the tough OT loss.
As for Maryland, they shot 41.8 percent in their last loss with 39 rebounds. This looks like a pretty good overall matchup and should be a tight game, but I think Northwestern can eke out a cover.