For the first time since December, Maryland basketball has found itself back inside the top 25.
Maryland checked in at 21st in the latest updated AP poll.
After last week’s road loss to Nebraska took the Terps narrowly out of top 25 consideration, Maryland bounced back with double-digit wins against Minnesota and Northwestern at home. The pair of wins wrapped up a 16-1 record, including 10-0 through conference play, inside the Xfinity Center this season. With Maryland basketball buzzing heading into March, the latest two wins also propelled Maryland to 17th in KenPom and 21st in the NET rankings as head coach Kevin Willard looks to maintain momentum heading into the postseason.
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“Going 10-0 at home in this conference, that’s pretty impressive for this group,” Willard said following Sunday’s win over Northwestern. “I think it just shows how great this program is, how great this fan base is. I think the fan base really got behind this group. I think they appreciated how hard they worked, how hard they played. And the students have really turned out and really made this place what it is. To be honest, sometimes I just sit back and watch this place because it’s a fun place to play and a fun place to watch a game.”
Maryland will now close out the regular season with a chance to answer arguably its biggest lingering question—winning on the road. Maryland will head to Ohio State on Wednesday night then Penn State on Sunday afternoon. While there’s been little doubt about Maryland’s dominance at home, the 4-8 record away from College Park still raises an eyebrow. Maryland had a chance to win its second road game in three tries when they faced Nebraska just eight days ago, but after retaking the lead in the second-half, the Huskers forced overtime before pulling out the 70-66 win.
Maryland will look to move forward with still a viable path to win at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with two games remaining. Though the Buckeyes are coming off a win while the Nittany Lions went ice cold at home in an eventual loss to Rutgers, Maryland knows what’s on the to-do list to close out the regular season.
We have to bring the same energy. We have to have that urgency that we have at home, the defensive intensity and really just embrace it’s going to go up and down,” Jahmir Young said on Sunday. “[We’re] not gonna have the crowd with us, so just being able to fight through it with each other. Just knowing that it’s us versus everybody and we’re just really just trying to prove people wrong. Really just that extra motivation, that extra push, I feel like that will put us over the hump on the road.”
Maryland tips off on Wednesday at 7 PM.
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Instant reactions: Maryland 75, Northwestern 59