Maryland men's basketball suffers worst loss since 1944 in blowout vs. Michigan State

Chase King
8 minutes ago
3 min read

Maryland Men’s Basketball (8-12, 1-8) took on the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans (18-2, 8-1) on the road, where the Terps fell completely flat and saw their worst conference Big Ten loss, 91-48.

This was the first time the two teams faced since Maryland suffered a crushing loss at the buzzer in 2025 as Michigan State’s Tre Holloman nailed a half-court shot to win 58-55.

This time, Maryland would be heavy underdogs as they entered just 3-10 in their last 13 games, and were taking on their second straight road-ranked game after playing No. 11 Illinois on Wednesday.

They brought out the same starting lineup as they did against Illinois with G Diggy Coit, G Darius Adams, G Isaiah Watts, G/F George Turkson Jr., and F Solomon Washington.

Entering the game, Michigan State was ranked first in defensive rating in KenPom, and it showed. Michigan State would take control right out of the jump and would storm out to a 24-4 lead in the first eight minutes of the game.

Maryland started the game shooting just 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-7 from behind the arc while committing four turnovers.

However, the Terps weren’t ready to give up yet, going on a 14-4 burst after the slow start, where they would cut the deficit to 10 points. Coit took control of the offense with the help of Solomon Washington as they combined for 11 points in the run.

But Michigan State continued to control the margins of the game, which would lead to an 18-5 run before the end of the half. Michigan State would dominate the Terps in the first half, leading 46-23.

In the first half, the Spartans scored 19 fast break points and 18 points in the paint while out-rebounding the Terps 21-to-11. They also shot better, shooting 56.7% from the field and 40% from three compared to the Terps 33.3% shooting from the field and 20% shooting from three.

Michigan State would keep control of the game, causing the second half to look similar to the first half.

Maryland would enter the second half with a couple of early made shots before the Spartans would go on a 15-0 run, where they had three made three-pointers and put a lid on the game.

The Spartans' defense would put pressure on the Maryland guards, who have been the driving force for the Terps' offense. This caused a lot of shots to come late in the shot clock for Maryland throughout the game, as well as early turnovers.

Maryland finished the game with 11 turnovers while shooting 6-for-26 (23.1%) from behind the arc and 3-for-7 on layups.

Another area that Maryland struggled with was in the paint. Not only did the Terps have a hard time limiting the Spartans' offense down low, but they also failed to produce at all.

Michigan State finished the game outproducing Maryland 38-to-16 on points in the paint, while also drawing more fouls, having 19 free throw attempts compared to Maryland's 11.

“Most of their shots, they want to be at the rim,” said Head Coach Buzz Williams, “And so the physicality, the mentality, the strength, the aggressiveness that they play with. In order for it to be a game, you have to match [it].”

One thing the Terps were able to compete with despite the lack of size was the offensive rebounds, matching the Spartans’ nine.

“In their range, we didn't get completely demolished,” said Williams, “So there was some growth in that regard since Wednesday in Champaign.”

The Spartans' offense hit from all cylinders against Maryland, shooting 60.7% from the field and a 47.4% from behind the arc. This was their most points scored against a Power Five team this season.

Spartan’s guard Jeremy Fears finished the game with 17 points and 17 assists while shooting 6-for-8.

Maryland’s leading scorer was Elijah Saunders, who had 13 points and 2 rebounds while shooting 5-for-11.

Coit scored 11 points in 19 minutes in the first half but only played in 9 minutes during the second half despite not being in foul trouble and finished the second half 0-for-1.

“I'm not going to keep a secret - we have a long, long, millions of miles to go in every possible way. On the floor, off the floor,” said Williams after the historic loss.

“And so we've got to continue to find ways to have improvement, whether that's in the film room, whether that's in skill development, whether that's in the weight room, whether that's in recruiting, we've got a long way to go.”

Maryland will now look forward to an eight-day break before getting right back into another top-10 matchup against No. 4 Purdue in College Park.

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