Minnesota (19-11) at Maryland (21-9)
When: Friday, March 8th, 2019
Where: XFINITY Center,
College Park, Maryland
Time: 7:00 ET | TV: Fox Sports 1
Opening Odds: Maryland -7.5/135.5
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Despite a losing record in conference play and a 1-6 skid during the season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers find themselves on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble entering their final regular season contest. They will look to improve on their position when they take on the 24th-ranked Maryland Terrapins on Friday night on Fox Sports 1. Minnesota rebounded from their 1-6 slide to win their last two including a 73-69 upset of ninth-ranked Purdue and are currently one of the ‘Last Four Byes’ according to ESPN’s Bracketology. Maryland will just miss out on a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament as they will finish in fifth place in the conference after dropping their last two games – including an ugly 78-61 loss to Penn State. Maryland has won eight out of the last 10 meetings with Minnesota, including an 82-67 win on January 8th.
The Gophers found their offense in the win over Purdue and Amir Coffey led the way with a career high 32 points against Purdue after scoring 31 in the prior game against Northwestern. Matz Stockman had nine points and six rebounds off the bench, but his career-high seven blocked shots proved to be a big factor. Forward Jordan Murphy recorded his 20th double-double of the season versus the Boilermakers (13 points, 14 rebounds) and moved past Sam Jacobson for sixth place on the school’s all-time scoring list.
Bruno Fernando has the hot hand for the Terrapins by draining 15-of-33 shots in the last four games and leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (63.3 percent) overall. Fernando recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots against Michigan for his 19th double-double. All five starters scored between 10-12 points in the 69-62 loss to Michigan last Sunday including Jalen Smith (11 points). Eric Ayala, Darryl Morsell and Anthony Cowan Jr. all scored 10 points, but went a combined 4-of-15 from 3-point range, while the bench produced just nine points.
Minnesota has more to play for here and I think this line is too high. Maryland has been a little inconsistent lately, while the Gophers seem to riding Coffey all the way into the NCAA Tournament.
Pick: Minnesota +7
Golden Gophers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Golden Gophers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
Golden Gophers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Golden Gophers are 6-15 ATS in their last 21 games following a ATS win.
Terrapins are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games following a ATS loss.
Terrapins are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up loss.
Terrapins are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
Terrapins are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
Under is 9-1-1 in Golden Gophers last 11 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Under is 4-1 in Golden Gophers last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Under is 15-5-1 in Golden Gophers last 21 road games.
Under is 15-5-1 in Golden Gophers last 21 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Over is 15-6 in Golden Gophers last 21 Friday games.
Under is 15-7-1 in Golden Gophers last 23 games following a straight up win.
Under is 13-3 in Terrapins last 16 games following a straight up loss.
Over is 4-1 in Terrapins last 5 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
Over is 4-1 in Terrapins last 5 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
Over is 8-3 in Terrapins last 11 home games.
Golden Gophers are 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
Underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
