Coach Mark Turgeon gives instructions to guard Rasheed Sulaimon during the Terps’ 75-71 victory against Georgetown on Nov. 17, 2015 at Xfinity Center.

Sporting an undefeated record, the No. 2 Maryland men’s basketball team opened as a seven-point underdog ahead of its Tuesday matchup with No. 9 North Carolina, according to oddshark.com.

This is the first time the Terps haven’t been favored all season. The Terps were favored by 20 before Friday’s game against Cleveland State, which they won by 17.

Vegas isn’t alone in predicting a North Carolina win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game. College basketball analyst Kenneth Pomeroy only gives the Terps a 25 percent chance of besting the Tar Heels, who opened the season No. 1 in the Associated Press poll before losing to Northern Iowa, 71-67, on Nov. 21. North Carolina sunk eight spots after that loss and stayed there in the most recent poll, released Monday. In Pomeroy’s rankings, the Tar Heels are No. 7, while the Terps sit at No. 21. 

Since that loss, North Carolina has topped Northwestern (No. 67 on KenPom.com) by 11 points and Kansas State (87) by 10. The Terps have defeated Mount St. Mary’s (243), Georgetown (31), Rider (193), Illinois State (144), Rhode Island (41) and Cleveland State (221) by an average margin of 14 points.

Tuesday’s game also marks the return of point guard Marcus Paige, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer from a season ago. Paige will match up with Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Melo Trimble in what promises to be one of the Terps’ most exciting games this season.

The Terps haven’t topped their former conference foes since 2010, a string of eight straight losses. That shouldn’t have an effect on this season’s team, as Jake Layman, Damonte Dodd and Varun Ram are the only players on this year’s team who were on the roster when the Terps last visited the Dean Dome in 2014, but it’s still interesting to note.

 

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