Preview: Maryland men's basketball looks to respond vs. Purdue

Ahmed Ghafir
5 hours ago
2 min read

Purdue (17-4, 7-3) vs Maryland (8-12, 1-8)

When & Where: February 1, 2026 | 1:00 PM | XFINITY Center | CBS

Radio: One Maryland App, 105.7 FM, 980 AM, SiriusXM channel 381

TV: CBS | Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Bruce Pearl

Betting: Maryland +13.5 | O/U: 150.5

After a week-long break, Maryland men's basketball is set for their third consecutive game against a top-15 team with 12th-ranked Purdue headed to College Park.

This marks Maryland's lone appearance on CBS this season with students back in College Park following winter break.

Maryland has lost four of the last five against Purdue with a 68-54 win back on Feb. 16, 2023 the lone win during that span.

How Maryland responds back at home is a question mark with star center Pharrel Payne still not expected to suit up, but coming off the program's worst loss since World War 2, head coach Buzz Williams will look to put together a more encouraging performance.

Purdue, of course, will look to enter a rare three-game losing streak after falling at UCLA and Indiana along with a home loss vs. Illinois by a combined 13 points since Jan. 20. After trailing by 11 at halftime, Purdue's comeback fell short in the final minutes after trimming the deficit to as little as two before falling in Bloomington for the fourth time in the last five seasons, making Sunday's game the latest test for a reeling Boilermaker squad.

Entering Sunday as the Big Ten's best shooting team, both from the field and three, Braden Smith leads the team in scoring and is one of four averaging double figures with 15.1 points per game, shooting nearly 50% from the field and 42% from three. His nine assists per game lead the nation and account for nearly half of his team's production this season, giving Diggy Coit arguably his toughest matchup of the season.

How Maryland limits Trey Kaufman-Renn is another key storyline with rebounding a continued weakness for head coach Buzz Williams' squad. The veteran big enters the matchup averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game alongside Oscar Cluff, averaging 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Maryland will look to pull off the upset with a legacy target and 2027 five-star Obinna Ekezie Jr. expected to be in attendance.

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