Preview: Maryland men's basketball hosts Michigan, searching for first top-five win of Buzz Williams era

Ahmed Ghafir
1 day ago
3 min read

Michigan (9-0, 1-0) vs. Maryland (6-4, 0-1)

When & Where: December 13, 2025 | 8:00 PM ET

TV: FOX | Tim Brando (pxp), Jim Jackson (analyst)

Radio: 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC) | SiriusXM channel 372

After dropping the Big Ten opener for the third loss in four games, Maryland men's basketball will now look to pull off a miracle on Saturday night when they host Michigan, ranked inside the top two in both the AP and coaches poll this week.

Maryland is 0-2 against ranked opponents and 0-3 in Quad One games under head coach Buzz Williams this season, while the program is looking for its first win against a top two team at home since defeating second-ranked Duke, 83-81, on Feb. 16, 2013.

Michigan has made a compelling case as the nation's best team through the first third of the season, ranked third nationally in rebounds per game (46.56), fourth in scoring margin (+28), ninth in points per game (94) while one of nine high major teams shooting over 52% from the field this season. Add in a pair of ranked wins by combined 70 points, including a 40-point win vs. Gonzaga one day after defeating Maryland by 39 points, Saturday poses the toughest game in what's been a challenging oppening stretch with Michigan off to its best start since the 2020-21 season.

Yaxel Lendeborg leads the way as one of four averaging double figures scoring with a team-high 15 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while UCLA transfer Aday Mara averages just shy of a double-double with 9.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Head coach Dusty May has leaned on a deep rotation with Trey McKenney and Roddy Gayle Jr, averaging over 21 minutes per game despite combining for one start this season and averaging double figures, giving Maryland's inexperienced depth a test.

But for a Maryland team that has been outrebounded in half of its ten games, allowed teams to shoot at least 54% from the field in three of the last four games and suffered at least 18 turnovers in three of the last five games, Saturday will be a barometer test for development in year one of the Buzz Williams era.

Maryland was humbled in the conference opener vs. Iowa after trailing for all but two minutes and by double digits for the final 30 minutes.

"Really tough team, incredibly well coached," head coach Buzz Williams told Chris Knoche after the game in his postgame 'press conference'.

"The last four days of work is the first time we've had ten healthy bodies. We don't know what the rotation is or the rotation should be. Collectively, we're trying to find groups that will play hard and play together for longer stretches of time. That's why I called the last two timeouts. I thought that group was playing hard and playing together. We were getting consecutive stops. We were doing OK offensively. We were doing a great job on [the] offensive glass in that stretch and we did a great job of getting fouled in that stretch. We didn't do a great job of making our free throws, but we did a really good job of putting pressure on the rim in that last 15 minutes of the game. But who is it? That's what we've got to figure out through practice so that we're not having to do that all of the times during games. But some of that is this is the first week, two games and four practices so we've got to continue to make progress in that regard."

But after a full week off, a needed week given the injury woes that have plagued the team through the first month of the season, will Maryland be able to show its first signs of development in the annual Red Out game?

Related Links