Kevin Willard, Maryland basketball looking to quiet road critics starting against Northwestern
- Ahmed Ghafir
- Jan 16
- 2 min read
After largely breezing through non-conference play, head coach Kevin Willard and Maryland men’s basketball had an opportunity to validate themselves once the calendar shifted to the Big Ten slate. Maryland passed its first test with flying colors after dominating Ohio State in the conference opener, leading by as many as 40 points in the second-half, before slipping four days later against Purdue in an encouraging performance yet the first of two eventual road losses against top-ten opponents.
A convincing 27-point win against Syracuse on a neutral floor would quiet early concerns, but all eyes were on the West Coast swing to begin the new year. And Maryland slipped, dropping games against both Oregon and Washington by a combined ten points to fall under .500 in conference play. Willard’s team would respond with a convincing 18-point win against UCLA on Friday night at home, thanks to a career-night from Ja’Kobi Gillespie, before squeaking by against Minnesota on Monday following a dominant second half from Derik Queen.
While the Terps have twice found themselves just outside the AP top 25 , they’re remained comfortably in the field with FOX Sports, ESPN, Andy Katz and CBS Sports all projecting Maryland anywhere between an eight or ten seed. All but one of the 59 brackets included on BracketMatrix.com expect Kevin Willard to guide the program to their second NCAA appearance since taking over. But with still over half of conference play left and plenty still left to sort out, Maryland will still need to bolster its resume against the Big Ten’s best.
Now, Maryland will have a chance at validation yet again when they hit the road against Northwestern on Thursday to kick off a pivotal stretch. Thursday’s game marks as a notable mid-January game with it being the first of three Quad One games along with the first of three road games over the next ten days for Maryland: Maryland is 0-3 in both Quad One games and true road games while shooting 5% worse from the field compared to at Xfinity Center this season. And while Willard’s second year was plagued by poor shooting in a sub-.500 overall finish, winning outside of College Park has been arguably the biggest criticism over the last three season given Maryland is 6-20 in true road games under Kevin Willard.
“It’s tough to win on the road,” Willard said after the Washington loss. “We’ve got to battle and we’ll find a way.”
With Maryland favored in three of those games, per ESPN's matchup predictor, Willard and the Terps will have a chance to silence the road critics starting in Evanston on Thursday night.
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