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No.17 Illinois will seek to bounce back with a win when they host the Maryland Terrapins at the State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini are the betting favorites. We tell you if the bookmakers have called it correctly in our latest NCAAB betting picks.
- What: 2024/25 Men’s College Basketball
- Who: Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Maryland Terrapins
- Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
- When: Thursday, January 23rd, 2025
- Tip-Off: 9 pm. ET
The Illinois Fighting Illini are 13-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten this season. They will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing two-point defeat to MS State in their most recent outing.
The Maryland Terrapins are 14-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play. In their most recent match, the Terrapins clinched a three-point home-court win over Nebraska at the weekend.
Thursday night’s meeting will be the first between the Fighting Illini and the Terrapins in conference play this season.
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Maryland Terrapins Betting
With the home-court advantage, the Fighting Illinois is favored to win this Big Ten showdown with the bookmakers.
Illinois is -355 on the money line, with Maryland at +280.
Maryland is receiving a 9-point start on the spread. To win against the spread, Maryland is -105 with BetUS. Illinois is -115 to cover with BetUS and -110 with BetOnline and Bovada.
The total line is set at 158. Over and under are both -110.
You can check out more Illinois vs. Maryland NCAAB betting lines on our college basketball betting table. Our NCAAB odds are from the best college basketball betting sites.
| Illinois vs. Maryland |  |  |  |
| Illinois | -355 | -355 | -355 |
| Maryland | +280 | +280 | +280 |
| Illinois (-9) | -115 | -110 | -110 |
| Maryland (+9) | -105 | -110 | -110 |
| Over 158 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under 158 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini are sixth in the Big Ten. In their last ten games, they are 7-3. They have scored an average of 87.2 points and conceded an average of 72.4 points per game.
Illinois has lost two of their last three matches. The sequence of results started with a shock 82-72 home defeat against USC. The Trojans became only the second team to defeat the Fighting Illini at the State Farm Center (Tennessee was the other) when they turned a 3-point half-time deficit into an 82-72 win.
Brad Underwood’s team responded in the ideal fashion, defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 94-69 in Bloomington just a few days later.
The Fighting Illinois then lost again, this time going down by just two points to the No.8 MI State. The contest was close with the scores level at halftime. But the Spartans just edged a close second half to win the contest 80-78.
BIG WIN FOR SPARTY ‼️
No. 12 Michigan State defeats No. 19 Illinois in a heavyweight Big Ten matchup 😤 pic.twitter.com/BXNzjLVqlY
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 19, 2025
Higher-ranked teams will do worse against Michigan, so Underwood’s team can take plenty of positives out of the narrow defeat.
The Fighting Illinois is +650 to win the Big Ten regular season. That puts Brad Underwood’s team behind Michigan State (+150), Michigan (+220), and Purdue (+375).
Illinois is +650 to make the Final Four and +2800 to win the NCAA Championship.
Once they’ve got the Terrapins out of the way, Illinois will welcome the Northwestern Wildcats to the State Farm Center on Sunday.
Maryland Terrapins
Maryland is 8th in the Big Ten. The Terrapins record across their last ten matches is 6-4. They have scored an average of 80.4 points per game and conceded 69.8 points.
Maryland is coming off a 69-66 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers last weekend. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Only two points separated the teams at the halfway point, but the Terrapins pulled away after the break, and with just four minutes left, Kevin Willard’s team held a 9-point lead.
The Cornhuskers threw everything at their opponents in the closing stages and managed to level the scores with one minute remaining.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie landed the all-important score; his bucket put the Terrapins back in front with just 40 seconds remaining. Rodney Rice completed the scoring to give the hosts the 3-point win.
The takeaway from the match is it should never have been that close.
In the latest betting, Kevin Willard’s team is +10000 to win the Big Ten regular season. The Terrapins are also +2200 to reach the Final Four and +10000 to win the 2025 NCAA Championship.
Following their visit to Illinois, the Terrapins will be in Bloomington on Sunday to face the Indiana Hoosiers.
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Maryland Terrapins Betting Picks
Illinois is 8-2 on their home court. It’s far from a perfect record, but when you compare it to Maryland’s away record of 0-4, it looks good.
The Fighting Illini’s home defeat to Tennessee was fair enough. That can happen. But, the 10-point loss to USC just under two weeks ago was a bit of a turn-up. Especially given Illinois held a 3-point lead at the halfway stage.
As bad as that performance was by Brad Underwood’s team, it’s still impossible to oppose them against a school with a 0-4 record on the road.
Our pick is a win for the Fighting Illinois. We are also backing them to cover the spread. Illinois is getting backed in already with BetUS, they have been cut to -115. So try and grab the -110 available from BetOnline and Bovada before it disappears.
See below our list of the best offshore sportsbooks for US bettors in 2025 and choose the one that suits you best:
Sports Betting Sites 