Preview: Maryland men's basketball looks to end road slide vs. Penn State

Ahmed Ghafir
Feb 28
3 min read

#16 Maryland (21-7, 11-6) at Penn State (15-14, 5-13)

When & where: March 1, 2025 | 12:00 PM | Bryce Jordan Center

TV: BTN | Jason Horowitz (pxp), Stephen Bardo (analyst)

Radio: One Maryland App | 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC) | SiriusXM channel 81

Betting: Maryland -4.5 | O/U: 153.5 (DraftKings)

After suffering their heartbreaking buzzer-beating loss vs. eighth-ranked Michigan State, Maryland men’s basketball will look to capitalize on a chance to end another losing streak when they travel to the Bryce Jordan Center to take on a Penn State team one game above .500.

While Maryland holds the all-time series lead, 17-15, 11 of those wins came in College Park with Maryland winless at State College since Feb. 14, 2014 with five of the seven losses by ten points or less. Head coach Kevin Willard is 3-2 all-time vs. Penn State.

The Nittany Lions enter Saturday outside of the Big Ten Tournament picture with losses in eight of their last ten games, but they’ll look to find life on senior day behind a balanced scoring attack with a chance at moving to 12-3 at home in 2024-25.

Ace Baldwin, one of five players set to be honored pregame, leads the Nittany Lions as one of five averaging double figures with a team-high 14 points per game ahead of Yanic Konan Niederhauser (13.0 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (11.8 ppg), Zach Hicks (11.7 ppg) and Puff Johnson (10.2 ppg). Baldwin was named to the midseason Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award as he ranks fifth in the country in assists (7.2) and five points-assists double-doubles this season. D’Marco Dunn, meanwhile, has started the last three games and is averaging over 11 points while shooting 50% from the floor over his last 12 games alongside Baldwin. Freddie Dilione, a Tennessee transfer, is the third guard in the starting five averaging 9.3 points on nearly 42% shooting.

After having to battle Michigan State’s size in the frontcourt, Maryland will have another tough test on Saturday with seven-foot forward Niederhauser, a Northern Illinois transfer, averaging a Big Ten-leading 2.2 blocks per game while starting in all but two games this season. Penn State will likely turn to Zach Hicks with Puff Johnson, a UNC transfer, rounding out the frontcourt rotation to counter the Terps’ size.

Maryland, meanwhile, will also look to put the bitter taste of Wednesday’s loss behind them with a chance at moving back to .500 in Quad One games. Villanova’s five-point win vs. Seton Hall on Wednesday dropped the Wildcats to 51st in the NET rankings, pushing Maryland’s neutral site win back on Nov. 24 to a Quad Two win.

With Maryland now eliminated from at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title, head coach Kevin Willard and his team still have a chance to secure a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Standing at 11-6 in conference play alongside Purdue and UCLA, Maryland enters Friday’s slate of games at fifth in the Big Ten with the Boilermakers owning the tie-breaker over Maryland and Maryland owning the tie-breaker over UCLA. Friday night’s matchup between Purdue and UCLA, set for 8 PM on FOX, will loom large in the Terps’ chances at a double-bye.

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