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The betting line on the Maryland-Illinois game Thursday evening has sat comfortably on the -7.5 favoring Illinois.
One can argue that the Terrapins do have tremendous value here. They've won six of the last eight games in this series. Only one of the losses was by more than the current spread.
The Fighting Illini have gone 8-2 in home games. Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 42.2 boards. Tomislav Ivisic leads the Fighting Illini with 8.5 rebounds.
The Terrapins have gone 4-4 against Big Ten opponents. Maryland ranks fifth in the Big Ten scoring 37.6 points per game in the paint led by Derik Queen averaging 10.0.
Illinois makes 44.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.4 percentage points higher than Maryland has allowed to its opponents (41.5%). Maryland averages 15.2 more points per game (83.2) than Illinois allows (68.0).
The Fighting Illini and Terrapins face off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.
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Ben Humrichous is shooting 37.3% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 9.1 points.
The Illinois forward has attempted 138 shots this season, with 102 of them coming from three-point range.
"I’ve just continued to work on some skills that I’ve been able to show more recently," Humrichous said. "Finding some success with, I guess everybody loves the term ‘booty ball.’ Using some of that to take pressure off of the three-point jump shot. Having that, sometimes can open up different facets for some teammates to help distribute and make plays for our team. Finding ways to do more and not just limiting myself to three-point shooting.
"I did a little bit at Evansville. The great part about it is it helps you slow down a little bit and make better decisions around the rim. It’s something that I didn’t utilize as much in the past, but now, more recently, I’ve found good success with."
Kylan Boswell is averaging 14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals over the last 10 games.
Gillespie is shooting 43.0% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Terrapins, while averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals. Queen is shooting 49.5% and averaging 13.8 points over the last 10 games.
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