The final game of Wednesday’s college basketball slate at the Players Era Festival is between the Maryland Terrapins and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Maryland leads the all-time series 4-3, but Alabama has won the previous two matchups by at least 19 points. Entering this game, Alabama has a 4-2 record while Maryland is 5-2.
The Crimson Tide are 12.5-point favorites, with the under of 166.5 points at -115 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Here is my best bet for tonight’s matchup between Alabama vs. Maryland.
Alabama vs. Maryland (11:59 p.m. ET)
Alabama started the season strong with a big victory over No. 5 St. John’s in their second game, but since then, the Crimson Tide have gone 2-2. After losing by 10 points to Gonzaga in their first game at the Players Era tournament, Alabama beat UNLV by 39 points. Maryland also lost to Gonzaga in this tournament and is trying to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season.
Buzz Williams is in his first season as Maryland’s Head Coach and brought in the 28th recruiting class this past offseason. Pharrel PayneĀ from Texas A&M leads the Terrapins in scoring and rebounds with 17.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. A transfer guard from Kansas, David Coit, is averaging 15.6 points per contest.
This Alabama team is led by Labaron Philon Jr. (20.7 PPG) and Aden Holloway (18.4 PPG). The star guard duo has had its ups and downs this season, but they have an extremely high upside. Also, Alabama has a very deep roster with seven players averaging at least 9.3 points.
Even though both teams enter this game with two losses this season, KenPom ranks Alabama No. 16 and Maryland No. 81. Maryland has the 107th offensive rating, averaging only 78 points per game, which is tied for 190th in the country. They have scored 61 or fewer points three times this season and have only two games with 89 or more points. That shouldn’t bode well for the Terrapins, who are facing the Crimson Tide, who have the seventh-best offensive rating.
This is a lopsided matchup, and even though Alabama has struggled against elite teams, it has succeeded against lesser opponents. Alabama is coming off a 39-point victory and has a good chance to cover the spread of -12.5 against Maryland tonight.
