The Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, MD. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Iowa is favored by 10.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -650. The total is set at 142 points.
Here’s my Iowa vs. Maryland predictions and college basketball picks for February 11, 2026.
Iowa vs Maryland Prediction
My Pick: Under 138.5 or Better
My Iowa vs Maryland best bet is on the under. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Iowa vs. Maryland Odds
| Iowa Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-10.5 -110 | 142 -110 / -110 | -650 |
| Maryland Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+10.5 -110 | 142 -110 / -110 | +475 |
- Iowa vs Maryland spread: Iowa -10.5
- Iowa vs Maryland over/under: 142 points
- Iowa vs Maryland moneyline: Iowa -650, Maryland +475
Iowa vs Maryland College Basketball Betting Preview
Iowa Basketball
Iowa is bound for the NCAA Tournament in the first year of Ben McCollum's tenure in Iowa City. That probably shouldn't be a surprise given McCollum's history. He's the college basketball coach most likely to borrow Curt Cignetti's famous line, "I win. Google me."
McCollum won four Division II national titles as the head coach at Northwest Missouri State. That led him to Drake, where he hit the ground running. His Bulldogs went 31-4 and won an NCAA Tournament game last season.
Now at Iowa, McCollum is leading the Hawkeyes to an 18-5 record and competing with the best teams in America's strongest conference (for my money).
One common denominator across McCollum's last three stops: his point guard Bennett Stirtz. The senior guard has followed his coach from D-II to the mid-major level to a power conference without skipping a beat.
Stirtz scored 15 points per game at Northwest Missouri State as a sophomore, dropped 19 per game and won Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year last season and now posts 20 points and five assists per game in the Big Ten.
A kid who went to D-II out of high school is now mocked as a lottery pick in the NBA draft.
And why shouldn't he be? Rising from level to level, his game has remained remarkably consistent.
He's joined by Tavion Banks, who started as a junior college player, made his way to Drake and also followed McCollum to Iowa. He's an apt secondary scorer, with other role players ready to shoot lined around the perimeter.
For the most part, however, this is Stirtz's show. He leads the Big Ten in minutes, after leading the nation in that stat last season at Drake. It's amazing his usage rate only clocks in around 27% because he seems to constantly have the ball in his hands.
Any defensive game plan for the Hawkeyes starts and ends with making Stirtz uncomfortable.
In Iowa's wins this season, Stirtz scores 21 points per game on 55% shooting from the field and 46% from deep. In losses, he manages just 15 points on 38% shooting, and 28% from long range. He's missed 51 3s in Iowa's 18 wins, while missing 31 3s in Iowa's five losses.
Maryland Basketball
Former Maryland head coach Kevin Willard left the program to return to his roots in the Big East, making the marginal jump to Villanova. It was critical for Maryland to make a hire that could keep some of the momentum of last March's Sweet 16 appearance.
Buzz Williams, thus far, hasn't done so. He was unable to retain a single player from last season's roster, starting fresh with high schoolers and portal finds. His efforts to restock the inventory were pretty solid.
Myles Rice was a double-figure scorer at Indiana and Washington State. Darius Adams and Aleks Alston were four-star recruits. David Coit was once a 20 point per game scorer at Northern Illinois before struggling to find a role in a year at Kansas.
Elijah Saunders scored 10.4 points per game at Virginia and Pharrel Payne matched that at Texas A&M. Isaiah Watts scored 11 per night for Washington State.
Williams found productive players from all over.
The roster has simply not lived up to expectations. Injuries have hurt, badly. Payne was scoring 17.5 points per game, but he hasn't played since December 13. Rice has missed two straight games after missing time to start the season. Big man Solomon Washington missed all of November.
The result is a sloppy team with no real identity. Maryland shoots 3s at the 44th-highest rate in the country, but it makes them at the 275th-best percentage. Even worse: Opponents are taking 3s at a high rate against Maryland and sinking them at over 38%, well over the national average.
This team gets hit with scoring avalanches all the time. EvanMiya tracks "Kill Shots," which are 10-0 runs during a game. Maryland only has nine of its own (second fewest in the Big Ten), while allowing 19 Kill Shots (most in the conference).
Maryland's 0.83 Kill Shots allowed per game is by far the most by a power-conference team. Penn State is second with just 0.68.
Iowa vs. Maryland Betting Analysis
Maryland doesn't inspire much confidence on either side of the court, yet its the Terrapins' offense that's been especially sluggish of late.
In Maryland's last five games, the Terps have averaged just 62 points. Maryland has failed to reach 65 points in half of its Big Ten games so far this season.
That's concerning when facing a good Iowa defense and a Hawkeyes team keen to control the pace. Iowa ranks 348th nationally in tempo, taking 19.2 seconds per possession offensively. Stirtz slows the pace to patiently pick his spots.
Maryland is a touch quicker, at 211th in tempo, but that number requires some context. The average Terrapin defensive possession takes just 17 seconds, 82nd-fastest in the country.
Offensively, Maryland has been happy to take its time, ranking 261st in average possession. The Terps have been even slower in conference, ranking fourth-slowest in the Big Ten.
When these teams met in Iowa City, Maryland only scored 64 points. Iowa got hot, shooting 41% from deep, and running up a 19-point win.
On the road in College Park, Maryland should put up a better fight, in the form of a wrestling match. Iowa just needs to sniff 70 points to win this one, making the under the play for me.
My Pick: Under 138.5 or Better
