Preview: Maryland basketball travels to Marquette in homecoming game for Buzz Williams

Chase King
Nov 14
3 min read

Marquette (3-1) at Maryland (2-1)

When & Where: November 15, 2025 | 2:00 PM | Fiserv Forum

Stream: Peacock | John Fanta (pxp), Donny Marshall (analyst)

Radio: One Maryland App | 1300 AM (Baltimore)

Betting: Maryland +4 (KenPom)

Maryland men’s basketball takes on the Marquette Golden Eagles (3-1) for their first true road game of the season, with Maryland head coach Buzz Williams looking to get his first win against his former team.

The Terps travel to Milwaukee for the second game of a two-year series against Marquette. Last year, the Terps hosted No. 15 Marquette in a game that ended in the Terps' first loss of the year after a 78-74 effort.

Now both teams are looking for a big win, the Terps lost their first Power Five game against Georgetown 70-60, where they only shot 25% from the field, the lowest mark since 2023.

Marquette also lost their only Power Five game against Indiana 100-77 on a neutral court.

The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the Big East preseason poll above Georgetown.

Williams previously coached for Marquette, it being his second of five head-coaching stints. He took an assistant position for the Golden Eagles in 2007 and was promoted to head coach for the 2008 season after the previous head coach, Tom Crean, was hired at Indiana.

“It completely changed my life, completely forever changed our four children's lives… I should not have gotten that job by any stretch of the imagination… I did not take that job thinking I was going to be the head coach,” said Williams, speaking of his time at Marquette.

“That’s a top 15 job, no matter who the coach is there, history speaks to that. But that decision by those decision makers completely changed the life that my children have lived.”

For the game, both Myles Rice and Solomon Washington were missing for the Terps in their Tuesday win against Alcorn State.

Solomon Washington has missed every game so far for the Terps, with Myles Rice being active for only the Georgetown game, where he scored a team-high 19 points.

A key to success on the road for the Terps will be limiting turnovers. The Terps are coming off their game against Alcorn State, where they committed 17 turnovers, a season high.

“We play with too high a turnover rate. Some of their turnovers came from our zone press break… a lot of our spacing on our hangs and belt was really bad,” said Williams, “we’re going to need a lot of that prior to Saturday because coach Smart runs a lot of havoc, and that’s a lot of zone with intermingled, a lot of man.”

On the offensive side, the Terps will be looking for a lot of production from the guard spot as well as senior Pharrel Payne.

Marquette allowed Indiana senior guard Lamar Wilkerson and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries to combine for 50 points. They combined to shoot 12-for-19 from three.

The Terps will need their guards to step up and take advantage of the opportunities that the Marquette frontcourt gives them.

Payne has averaged 20 points for the Terps in their first three games and will come into a big matchup against Marquette’s senior forward Ben Gold, who has been a defensive anchor for the Golden Eagles for the last two years.

On the defensive end, the Terps will have to worry about senior guard Chase Ross, who is averaging 18.3 points for the Golden Eagles throughout their first four games.

The Terps will also have to make defending without fouling a big priority, as Ross is getting to the line 8.5 times a game to start the season, and the team is averaging 27 free throw attempts a game.

“Can we play to get fouled? Because I think that’s going to be important, relative to our roster makeup. And then can we defend without fouling,” said Williams after the loss to Georgetown, where the Hoyas shot 31 free throws.

The game will be played at Marquette’s Fiserv Forum at 2:00 p.m. EST and will be streamed on Peacock.

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