UCLA vs Maryland Prediction 1/10/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Maryland Terrapins and the UCLA Bruins meet Saturday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Here’s a UCLA vs Maryland prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UCLA vs Maryland pick.

Maryland Terrapins Betting Preview

The Terrapins kicked off the season on a nice 5-1 run over their first six games. The only loss during that time was versus Georgetown. Maryland hit the skids on a 2-6 run over the next eight though, beating only Wagner and Old Dominion. The losses otherwise were versus Gonzaga, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia and Oregon. That would give the Terrapins a .500 record at 7-7 across their first 14 games of the season.

In game 15 versus Indiana on Wednesday the Terrapins were down by five points 36-31 by the end of the first half. Maryland didn’t get any better from there, posting a 48-35 deficit on the way to an 84-66 loss in the end. Elijah Saunders topped the team in the defeat with his 16 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes. Solomon Washington added 14 points with nine rebounds as well.

UCLA Bruins Betting Preview

Over on the UCLA side, they managed a pretty decent 7-3 run over their first 10 games. The wins in that time were over Eastern Washington, Pepperdine, West Georgia, Sac State, Presbyterian, Washington and Oregon. After three more wins over Arizona State, Cal Poly and UC Riverside, the Bruins have since lost a pair versus Iowa and Wisconsin. That gives UCLA a 10-5 record in their first 15 games this year so far.

In the Wisconsin matchup on Tuesday the Bruins entered the second half with a 45-31 deficit. UCLA got better from there on a 41-35 advantage but still ended up taking a road loss in the end by a score of 80-72. Tops in points during the losing effort was Eric Dailey with 18 alongside his eight rebounds in 31 minutes. Tyler Bilodeau had 16 points with nine boards and Trent Perry added 15 points with three rebounds.

Why the UCLA Bruins will win

• UCLA has won each of its last 11 games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
• Maryland has lost each of its last five games against Conference opponents.
• UCLA has won the first half in 21 of its last 22 games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Maryland Terrapins will win

• Maryland has won 14 of its last 15 day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• UCLA has lost the first half in three of its last four games.

UCLA vs Maryland Prediction

I’ll stay with UCLA. The Bruins need a solid bounce-back effort after falling to Wisconsin this week, and this is a decent place to get it. UCLA shot 45.9 percent from the field versus the Badgers in that road loss, but hit just one of their 17 attempts from 3-point range (5.9 percent) and weren’t spectacular from the line either (15-of-23 for 65.2 percent). That said, UCLA did have a 33-30 rebounding advantage, a 36-26 edge in the paint and just nine turnovers. The Bruins have lost consecutive games (both on the road) against a pair of pretty tricky opponents in Iowa and Wisconsin, giving up a total of 154 points in those two outings.

As for Maryland, they lost to a good Indiana team in a home matchup this week, shooting 41 percent from the field and a rough 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from outside. Maryland got outmuscled on the boards 36-31 as well, and put up 11 turnovers with just seven team assists. The Terrapins are just 2-7 in their last nine games, but to be fair they’ve played some pretty tough teams in that time. This weekend will hold the first of a couple more tricky matchups during a West-Coast trip.