Maryland vs UCLA Prediction 1/10/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The UCLA Bruins and the Maryland Terrapins meet Friday in college basketball action from Xfinity Center College Park. Here’s a Maryland vs UCLA prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Maryland vs UCLA pick.

UCLA Bruins Betting Preview

This year the Bruins kicked off the year on a pretty great run, but they’ve struggled over the last handful of outings. UCLA beat Rider in their opener this season but then fell in game two to New Mexico. The Bruins would quickly find their footing on a nine-game win streak after that, taking out Boston University, Lehigh, Idaho State, Cal State Fullerton, Southern Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Prairie View A&M in succession. The last quartet of games has been a 1-3 stretch, however. UCLA has a lone win over Gonzaga in that time. Otherwise, it’s been losses to North Carolina, Nebraska, and Michigan for an 11-4 record so far this year.

In the Michigan game on Tuesday, the Bruins were in trouble by halftime, hitting the locker room with a 47-37 deficit on their hands. UCLA was outpaced 47-38 the rest of the way and finished out with a sizable loss of 94-75 in the end. Leading the team in scoring were Tyler Bilodeau (five rebounds; three assists) and Sebastian Mack (seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench), each with 17 points. Eric Dailey added 13 points with two steals and two rebounds, while Kobe Johnson had 12 points with four rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.

Maryland Terrapins Betting Preview

Over on the Maryland side, they similarly got off to a very nice start this season, however, the Terrapins haven’t found any success so far this calendar year. Maryland beat Manhattan, Mount St. Mary’s, and Florida A&M in their first three games before a loss to Marquette. A win streak over Canisius, Villanova, Bucknell, Alcorn State, and Ohio State ensued over the next five games, then another loss to Purdue. Maryland got back on the proverbial horse with another win streak from there, taking out St. Francis PA, Syracuse, and Maryland Eastern Shore in succession. In the last two games, the Terrapins have recorded a couple of losses however, falling versus Washington and Oregon for an 11-4 overall record so far this year.

Matched up against Oregon on Sunday, the Terrapins played fairly well on the road against a tough opponent, all things considered. Maryland went into the locker room with a 45-42 edge but got outpaced the rest of the way 41-34 and lost 83-79 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Rodney Rice with 19 points, three boards, and four assists. Derik Queen added 17 points with five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals, while Ja’Kobi Gillespie chipped in with 16 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal on 28 minutes of work.

Why the Maryland Terrapins will win

• Maryland has won each of its last six games at XFINITY Center.
• UCLA has lost three of its last four games.
• Maryland has won the first half in each of its last 11 games at XFINITY Center.

Why the UCLA Bruins will win

• UCLA has won each of its last seven night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Maryland has lost each of its last six night games against AP-ranked opponents.
• UCLA has won the first half in each of its last seven night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Maryland vs UCLA Prediction

I’ll just stay with Maryland here. The Terrapins are sitting on a couple of tough road losses versus tricky teams in their last two outings, but to their credit, they’ve played pretty well in that pair. In the loss to Oregon on Sunday, Maryland shot a nice 47.5 percent from the field with 30 rebounds and 16 team assists. The 51.8 percent shooting allowed on the other side was just too much, however. The good news is that the Terrapins are scoring quite well this year; they’ve hit 69 or more points in every game so far, and 74 or more in 14 of 15 outings.

As for UCLA, they were blitzed by a tough Michigan team in their last game, eventually surrendering a blistering 61.5 percent shooting from the field and 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from outside. The Bruins are generally a good scoring team this year themselves, but they’ve been prone to a few duds here and there: fewer than 66 points in three of the last six. I like both teams to score well in a fairly high total on Friday, with Maryland powering it out at home. Should be a fun one.