Northwestern vs. Maryland Expert Pick – February 26, 2023

Northwestern and Maryland Exceeding Expectations

Aside from both teams playing in the same conference, there are a few other similarities between these two programs.

For instance, both teams are coming off losing seasons. Given that fact, neither of them was picked to do very well this season.

Furthermore, both Northwestern and Maryland have defeated the Purdue Boilermakers – the team with the best record in the Big Ten conference. 

Northwestern Coming Off a Difficult Loss, Maryland Cruises to Victory in Previous Outing

In Maryland’s most recent outing, they defeated the Minnesota Gophers with a convincing 88-70 on Wednesday night.

They did so with some very efficient shooting. Maryland shot 68.1 percent from the floor and converted seven of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Julian Reese (21 points), Hakim Hart (20 points), and Donta Scott (18 points) paced the Terrapins’ scoring attack.

The trio combined to shoot 22-for-28 from the field. 

Meanwhile, the Wildcats are smarting from a loss to the Fighting Illini on Thursday night. Despite leading by 16 points with 11 minutes to play, Northwestern crumbled down the stretch, enabling the Illini to escape with a 66-62 win.

Wildcats’ guard Boo Buie scored a career-high 35 points on 12-for-24 shooting from the floor. He also shot 6-for-11 from 3-point range.

Unfortunately, the other four starters produced just 14 points, while shooting an abysmal 5-for-26 from the field. And as a team, the Wildcats shot 34.9 percent from the field. Northwestern will need to bring its “A” game if they hope to knock off a Maryland squad that has won 15 of its 16 games at home.