Illinois Fighting Illini vs Maryland Terrapins Prediction, 3/8/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Maryland Terrapins

Date: Sunday, March 8, 2026

Location: XFINITY Center in College Park, MD

TV: ESPN+

The Maryland Terrapins (11-19) will try to beat the Illinois Fighting Illini (23-7) at XFINITY Center on Sunday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini played Oregon and notched a win by a score of 80-54 in their last game. Illinois ended the game having earned a 40.8% FG percentage (29 of 71) and buried 10 of their 36 shots from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini made 12 of 14 tries for a rate of 85.7%. In regard to grabbing boards, they collected 45 with 13 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 13 assists for this contest while forcing the other team into 7 turnovers and having 6 steals. In regard to the defense, Illinois allowed the other team to shoot 32.8% from the floor on 21 out of 64 shooting. Oregon recorded 10 dimes and had 3 steals in this game. Additionally, Oregon snagged 31 boards (7 offensive, 24 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Oregon went 77.8% at the charity stripe by converting 7 of their 9 shots. They converted 5 out of their 29 tries from beyond the perimeter. Regarding fouls, the Fighting Illini finished with 9 while Oregon totaled 12 fouls.

Andrej Stojakovic is one guy who was a major factor for the game. He finished the game shooting 58.3% from the field and distributed 2 dimes. He played for 21 minutes and totaled 12 rebounds. He recorded 21 points on 7 out of 12 shooting.

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Illinois will play this contest with a record of 23-7 on the year. They currently have an average of 84.5 points per outing (22nd in college) while going 46.1% from the field. The Fighting Illini are connecting on 35.2% on three-point attempts (335 of 951) and 79.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Illinois is pulling down 41.1 rebounds per contest and has tallied 440 dimes for the campaign, which is 143rd in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 9.0 times per game and as a unit they commit 13.1 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Fighting Illini have forced 7.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.7 fouls. They are ranked 165th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 402 surrendered for the campaign. The Fighting Illini defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.8% (776 of 1,902) and they concede 30.9 boards per contest as a unit. They are surrendering 31.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 61st in the nation in opponents points per game (69.0).

When they last stepped on the court, the Maryland Terrapins took a loss by a final score of 78-45 against Wisconsin. The Terrapins earned 24 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for the matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while recording 1 steal in the game. Wisconsin was called for 11 fouls in this game which took the Terrapins to the charity stripe for a total of 5 attempts. They were able to knock down 2 of those for a percentage of 40.0%. In reference to shooting from beyond the arc, Maryland buried 9 out of their 31 attempts (29.0%). In all, the Terrapins finished 17 for 56 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 30.4%. The Terrapins allowed Wisconsin to knock down 27 of their 56 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 48.2% for the game. They went 41.9% from distance by shooting 13 of 31 and ended up going 11 of 13 at the free throw line (84.6%). With respect to how they rebounded, Maryland allowed Wisconsin to grab 29 in total (4 offensive).

Andre Mills pitched in for the Terrapins in this game. He tallied 14 points in his 25 mins on the court, but wrapped up this contest with no dimes. He converted 5 out of 12 in this game giving him a rate of 41.7%, and had 3 rebounds.

Maryland has a win-loss mark of 11-19 on the campaign. The Terrapins commit 18.1 fouls every game and they shoot 72.2% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 10.5 times per game (356th in college) and they are turning it over 12.5 times per game. Maryland has tallied 2,094 points this season (69.8 per game) and they average 35.5 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Terrapins are shooting 40.4% from the field, which ranks them 355th in college hoops.

The Terrapins on defense are ranked 268th in the country in points allowed per game with 77.1. They are forcing 10.1 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 46.7% from the field (315th in college hoops). The Maryland defense surrenders 37.2% on shots from 3-point land (275 of 739) and opponents are converting on 72.5% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 16.3 dimes and 33.8 boards per contest, which is ranked 344th and 147th in college.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Maryland and under the total points

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