With the college football bowls in the rearview mirror, it's pretty common for bettors to finally turn their focus to college basketball with March Madness now right around the corner. Purdue is the No. 1 team in both polls and the +900 favorite at DraftKings to cut down the nets on April 8 at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix, but All-American Zach Edey and the Boilermakers are on upset alert Tuesday as a 6.5-point favorite at Maryland in Big Ten action. Click here for model picks.
The Terrapins carry a 19-game home winning streak into Tuesday and a 14-game Big Ten home winning streak. Last season when Purdue visited an unranked Maryland, the Boilermakers were No. 3 nationally and lost 68-54 as fans stormed the court at XFINITY Center in College Park. Jahmir Young had 20 points to lead Maryland to the school's 51st all-time win vs. a top-five opponent and 34th all-time win vs. a top-three foe. It was also the seventh win over top-five opponent at XFINITY Center.
Coach Kevin Willard's team has faced one top-10 opponent since then, a 73-51 loss to Alabama in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide were the top-ranked team in the nation, and Tuesday's game will be the first time the Terrapins have faced a No. 1 team since then. The Terrapins have lost their last five games against the top team in the polls, with their last win coming on Jan. 19, 2008, against North Carolina. Maryland is 10-31 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents.
Maryland (9-4) played without their star Young last Thursday due to illness but didn't need him to handle Coppin State 75-53 in non-conference action. Young should play Tuesday. He leads the team in scoring (19.3 points per game), assists (4.1) and steals (1.5). Overall, Young has 117 career double-figure scoring games with 47 20-point efforts – the most among all active Big Ten players. His 2,206 career points are the second most nationally among active players. Young started his career at Charlotte.
Purdue (12-1) is No. 1 in the polls for a third week in a row, with the team's lone loss coming in overtime at Northwestern back on Dec. 1. The 7-foot-4 Canadian Edey is absolutely dominating, averaging 23.2 points on 62.4% shooting along with 10.2 rebounds. He the -180 favorite to repeat at Wooden Award winner as the nation's top player. It's rare for a Wooden winner to return to school, but Edey is not considered a top NBA prospect so he opted to do so after last season. That the Boilermakers were stunned in the first round of the '23 NCAA Tournament by No. 16 seed Farleigh Dickinson also played a role in his decision.
Edey reached 300 points, 30 blocks and 12 wins in the first 13 games of the season, becoming the first player (college or NBA) since the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal in 2001-02 to do so. The Boilermakers have scored at least 80 points in seven straight games, matching the longest streak for the school since the 1987-88 season (10 games). They are 79-3 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring 80 or more points.
Coach Matt Painter's team wrapped up yet another perfect non-conference slate and has won 35 straight non-conference regular-season games, good for the ninth-longest streak in NCAA history and the second-longest streak in Big Ten history. Purdue is the third team in the last 50 years to record three straight unbeaten non-conference regular seasons.
Purdue also has the shortest odds (+220) of any team to make the Final Four. The program hasn't been to a Final Four since 1980. Maryland is +2000 to reach its first since 2002 when the school won its lone national title.
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