The Huskies are a different team when James Bouknight is in the lineup. The future NBA star has led his team to 11-3 marks straight up and ATS. When he missed eight games earlier this year, UConn struggled and was 4-4 straight up and ATS. Dan Hurley's group plays great defense. R.J. Cole and Bouknight combine to shoot 80 percent from the free throw line.

Maryland is all over the place, up and down, hard to read. After losing to Penn State and Northwestern to close out the regular season, the Terrapins beat Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament, dominated the first half against Michigan and lost 79-66. UConn is a well coached team that went 16-5-1 ATS this season and 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine. The Huskies are still getting better. UConn is the play.

With leading scorer James Bouknight in the lineup, UConn has lost just three times this season. There was an eight-point loss at full-strength Villanova, an overtime loss to Creighton, and a three-point loss to Creighton in the Big East Tournament. Second-leading scorer R.J. Cole missed the final stretch of that game after suffering a concussion. He'll be back for this matchup against Maryland. UConn has a coaching edge, too. Lay the points.

No. 10 Maryland vs. No. 7 UConn in East Region action Saturday. The Huskies looked really strong at the end of the season in winning five straight before a tight loss to Creighton in the Big East semis. UConn might have won that game if not playing without starting point guard RJ Cole for the final 4:30 after he hit his face on the floor going down awkwardly on a drive to the basket. Cole (12.3 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.2 spg) was put in concussion protocol but will complete that later today and be good to go Saturday, and that locks in the Huskies for me here. The Turtles are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as underdogs, while UConn is 5-0 ATS in its past 5 neutral site games as a favorite.