The Maryland Terrapins take on the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, California. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
UCLA is favored by 11.5 points on the spread, and the total is set at 146.5 points.
Here’s my Maryland vs. UCLA prediction and college basketball picks for January 10, 2026.
Maryland vs UCLA Prediction
My Pick: UCLA -11.5 (Play to -13.5)
My Maryland vs UCLA best bet is on the Bruins to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Maryland vs. UCLA Odds
| Maryland Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+11.5 -110 | 146.5 -115o / -105u | OFF |
| UCLA Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-11.5 -110 | 146.5 -115o / -105u | OFF |
- Maryland vs UCLA spread: UCLA -11.5
- Maryland vs UCLA over/under: 146.5 points
Maryland vs UCLA College Basketball Betting Preview
Maryland Basketball
Maryland is shaping up to be potentially the worst team in the Big Ten in year one of the Buzz Williams era. The Terrapins are now 7-8, with an 0-4 record in league play. They haven’t beaten a top 100 team all season and have only won two games in the past six weeks.
The Terrapins check in at 115th on KenPom, with the 152nd-ranked offense and 93rd-best defense.
Williams' group has plenty of issues, but to be fair, this team has been hit hard by the injury bug. Big man Pharrel Payne is by far their best player and has missed the last four games for the Terrapins. He’s likely out for this one as well.
Maryland definitely still has some talented players, but as a unit, it has really been a mess. 6-foot-7 Solomon Washington and 6-foot-8 Elijah Saunders are strong and athletic forwards, but that’s a pretty small frontcourt in this league.
The backcourt of David Coit, Darius Adams, Myles Rice and Isaiah Watts has struggled. Coit is the only one who’s shot the ball efficiently from deep, as he’s made eight 3s in two separate games, one of which was against Michigan.
This team has been sloppy with the ball, coming in at 260th in turnover percentage nationally, and is generally just inefficient offensively, ranking 298th in effective field goal percentage.
This group isn’t even successfully hitting the offensive glass, a Williams staple at Texas A&M. The Terps are outside the top 100 in offensive rebounding percentage.
UCLA Basketball
UCLA has been disappointing this season, down to 39th in KenPom after beginning the season slotted in at number 10.
All of the ex-Pac-12 West Coast schools in the Big Ten have struggled traveling East to start the campaign. The Bruins dropped games to Iowa and Wisconsin in the past week, trailing by 20 in the first half of both games before coming back and making things interesting in the second.
A key storyline for this UCLA team is that it’s very different from a typical Mick Cronin squad. That’s because this team is better on the offensive end (40th in KenPom) than it is on the defensive end (60th).
Cronin doesn’t appear to have much faith in his two transfer centers at this point in the season, Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson. Both players have failed to impact the game positively on either end of the floor, leading to Cronin opting to mostly play small with Tyler Bilodeau at the five.
Leaning into small ball and becoming a more offensive-minded team becomes a little more complicated without Skyy Clark in the mix, who's doubtful to play in this game after suffering an injury in the loss to Iowa.
Clark was off to a red-hot start on the season, shooting 49% from deep, and his absence puts even more pressure on Donovan Dent and Bilodeau to carry the offensive load.
UCLA is shooting 37% from deep as a team this season and is 31st nationally in turnover margin.
Maryland vs. UCLA Betting Analysis
Even without Clark, I think UCLA has enough juice to run away with this one. Whether Cronin’s bigs emerge from the doghouse or not here, I still think the Bruins can do a good enough job keeping Maryland off the offensive glass.
A lot of this really boils down to the spot, too. Cronin has spoken in press conferences about the lengths he’s willing to go to get his team to play better defense, including “not practicing offense for the rest of the season.”
Taking into account the Bruins returning home, playing the worst team in the league, their poor starts in the last two games and the public shaming of their defense from their leader, and I expect an A+ effort defensively and for Bilodeau and Dent to provide enough offensively for UCLA to win and cover here.
My Pick: UCLA -11 (Play to -13.5)
