Game preview #1: Maryland vs. Davidson

(4) Maryland -7 vs. (13) Davidson (O/U: 155.5)

The Wildcats reached everyone's radar with their run through the SoCon tournament led by Stephen Curry, son of former NBA star Dell Curry. Of course, Maryland has a famous son of their own, D.J. Strawberry, son of former coke-head Darryl Strawberry.

Davidson does have some things going for it as a possible Cinderella besides just the big name freshman sensation. They have a balanced scoring attack, with some inside play from Boris Meno and Thomas Sanders who can probably hang with Maryland's talented but thin front-line.

The real keys here are PG play and Maryland's concentration. Both teams have inexperienced PG's who are prone to turnover streaks. A big key to the 13 vs. 4 upset is that the 4 seed gets a low amount of offensive production from their guards to offset the 13 seeds inside play, and I don't think Maryland will get much production from their back court in this game.

Also, we know Gary Williams coached teams have a tendency to fall asleep against lesser foes. Take a look at their first round matchups with UTEP in '04, UNC Wilmington in '03 and George Mason in '01. Or just look at their loss to Miami in the ACC tournament first round this year (or go back to 2003, the last time they were favored in an ACC tournament opening round game and proceeded to lose to North Carolina).

The play to make: Davidson +6.5. Davidson 1st Half +4 is good value. Davidson +253 might be worth a small chance, but don't go heavy on the ML. I have no thoughts really on the total, though I suspect this game goes over.

Who to take based on which mascot would win in a fight: Turtles are sneaky. You'd think they'd be an easy out in this, but they've got those tough shells that they can camoflauge themselves in, and possibly outlast their opponent. That being said, however, a wildcat would probably just find a rock to smash the turtle against enough times until its shell broke. Edge: Davidson.

Who Suzy from accounting is taking: Stephen Curry is a hottie, but Davidson plays out in fuckville, North Carolina and Maryland has the cuter mascot. Edge: Maryland.