The Maryland Terrapins take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in Champaign, IL. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET on FS1.
Illinois is favored by 7.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -320. The total is set at 158 points.
Here are my Maryland vs. Illinois predictions and college basketball picks for January 23, 2025.
Maryland vs Illinois Prediction
My Pick: Illinois -7.5 (Play to -10)
My Maryland vs Illinois best bet is on the Illini spread, with the best odds currently available at BetRivers. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Maryland vs Illinois Odds, Lines, Pick
| Maryland Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+7.5 -110 | 158 -110 / -110 | +260 |
| Illinois Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-7.5 -110 | 158 -110 / -110 | -320 |
- Maryland vs Illinois spread: Illinois -10
- Maryland vs Illinois over/under: 158 points
- Maryland vs Illinois moneyline: Illinois -320, Maryland +260
- Maryland vs Illinois best bet: Illinois -7.5 (Play to -10)
Maryland vs Illinois College Basketball Betting Preview
I would consider Auburn, Duke and Alabama as the three best teams in the nation right now (no offense to Iowa State).
But Illinois isn't far behind despite its ranking of No. 17 in the AP Poll.
The Illini have an elite offense featuring one of the top one-two punches in the nation in Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic. They have veterans in Kylan Boswell and Tre White who have high-level experience at Arizona and Louisville, respectively. They also have plenty of depth with freshman Will Riley, holdover Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Ben Humrichous.
Illinois is in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency and they sit at No. 9 in KenPom's rankings.
Also, Brad Underwood's bunch could have a much better record than 13-5 based on its results. Illinois was beaten on the road at Northwestern by only four, lost to USC at home without Jakucionis and nearly beat Michigan State in East Lansing despite Jakucionis playing just nine minutes.
The Illini dropped 109 points in a victory at Oregon and beat Wisconsin, Penn State and Missouri.
Now with Jakucionis much healthier, the Illini can focus on bouncing back from their loss against Michigan State, and I expect them to do so in this game against Maryland.
The Terps have played well in College Park, but they still haven't won a true road game this season. In fact, Maryland is seventh-worse in the country in Haslametrics' away-from-home metric.
Maryland has a strong frontcourt with Derik Queen and Julian Reese; however, the difference for Kevin Willard's bunch this year has been the shooting of the transfers — Rodney Rice, Selton Miguel and Ja'Kobi Gillespie — which opens things up on the interior.
Illinois is great at defending the 3-point shot, though, as opponents are shooting 28.2% from 3 against the Illini (fifth-best nationally).
