Total Play As Maryland Takes On Wisconsin

Maryland vs. Wisconsin, 2:00 ET

2-0 on the plays yesterday has me back in the lab ready to work to find more games for us to play today. The conference tournaments have been entertaining thus far, and I expect them to be even better today with more of the bigger schools taking to the floor. We have hoops all day today and there are plenty of opportunities, but I am looking at one game in particular. We are going to put a play on the Big 10 tournament game between Maryland and Wisconsin as they have a mid-afternoon game. 

Maryland is one of those squads that has talent, but didn't really put it together consistently enough for them to do real damage during the regular season. Now that they are in the conference tournament they have a pretty tough draw against Wisconsin. For the season, The Terrapins are now 16-16 after beating Rutgers in the first game of the tournament. They are only 7-13 in the conference this season, and they lost their one game against Wisconsin earlier in the year. That was a road game for Maryland and they kept it close, losing 74-70. If it wasn't for a slow start, Maryland might have gotten the upset accomplished. They went into halftime down eight points, but they won the second half by four. Their offense put in 12 more points in the second half than they did in the first half. The one area of concern I have for them from that game is the rebounding. They were outrebounded 33-24 by the Badgers. They can't allow that to happen once again. The Terrapins have a dynamic guard, Jahmir Young, who can pour in the points. Young put in 20 points in the first game and their forward, Julian Reese, added another 18. The problem was that Maryland couldn't stop the Badgers collective attack as they had four guys score in double figures. 

Wisconsin beat Maryland 74-70. (Credit: Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports)

Wisconsin might be the third best team in the Big 10, but if they aren't careful, they could lose this game to Maryland. The Badgers finished the season at 19-12 and had an 11-9 conference record. They had some confounding losses, but they also had a few impressive wins. They did end their regular season with a loss against Purdue in a game they kept close, losing 78-70. In fact, they've only won three games since February 1st, and are 3-8 over their past 11 games. Wisconsin has a solid guard in AJ Storr who is going to have to neutralize the scoring that Young puts up for Maryland. The combination of Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl should be able to win the rebounding battle. They also are good enough to balance the scoring from the Maryland frontcourt. This game should also be more of a home-court advantage for the Badgers as it takes place in Minnesota. If the bench and additional role players can contribute their normal game, Wisconsin should be able to escape with a win here. 

I think the total is too low in this game. At just 132, both teams will get to the mid-60s and that puts us around 130. I think there are more opportunities for us to get over the total then for the under to hit. I also think the Badgers cover this game as I do think they are the better team in this game. However, I will only bet the total. If this plays out the same way as the first one, we should expect 70-something points from Wisconsin and 60-something from Maryland which will cover this line. 

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