Maryland (8-1, 1-0) at #8 Purdue (7-2, 0-1)
When & Where: Dec. 8, 2024 | 12 PM | Mackey Arena
TV: BTN - Brandon Gaudin (pxp), Robbie Hummel (analyst)
Radio: One Maryland App | 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC)
Betting: Maryland +3.5 | O/U: 144.5 (FanDuel)
Maryland men’s basketball is preparing for its first true road game of the season, and it’ll be against a Big Ten foe fresh off its second road loss of the season.
Purdue fell to 7-2 (0-1) overall following an 81-70 loss vs. Penn State on Thursday night as 24 turnovers spoiled the Boilermakers shooting over 50% from the field. While the Nittany Lions secured their first top-ten win since 2019, it also handed Purdue their second defeat in as many road games this season with both Maryland and Purdue falling to Marquette this season.
For a Maryland team that has largely coasted through the open portion of the 2024-25 season, Sunday’s road game marks arguably the biggest test of the season as head coach Kevin Willard will look to lead Maryland to their best start since 2019-20. It’ll also be a test for Maryland’s defense with the Terps’ defensive efficiency ranked tenth, per KenPom, matched up against a Purdue offense rated ninth in offensive efficiency.
To do so, Maryland will need to win on the road which has become a task easier said than done as Willard is just 6-17 in true road games as Maryland’s head coach, while Maryland is 3-5 vs. Purdue when they’re ranked. While year two of the Willard era was plagued by poor shooting, Sunday marks another chance at early season validation for a Maryland squad days removed from its dominant win in the conference opener. Maryland shot over 50% from the field in five consecutive games before shooting a blazing 55% as a team to set up a 33-point halftime lead vs. Ohio State, the largest halftime lead in Big Ten play in program history.
Maryland now sits inside the top-20 in both NET rankings (14th) and KenPom (19th) as of Friday morning as head coach Kevin Willard now looks to lead his team to its second Quad One win of the season, their last opportunity of doing so until Jan. 5 when they travel to face 12th-ranked Oregon. Maryland has lost their last six against Purdue in West Lafayette with the lone road win back on Jan. 10, 2015.
College basketball analyst Jon Rothstein noted this weekend’s Big Ten matchup as one of five games to watch this weekend.
FanDuel: “The Terps made mincemeat out of Ohio State in their Big Ten opener on Wednesday. A road game at Mackey Arena is a completely different weight-class. This is the first true road environment that Maryland freshman Derik Queen (16.6 points, 8.3 rebounds) will endure in his young college career. It will be trial by fire in West Lafayette.”
Names to Know
Trey Kaufman-Renn: the junior forward leads the team in scoring (18.7) and sits sixth in the Big Ten after scoring in double figures in every game this season. His first career double-double came in a two-point win vs. Ole Miss as he led the way with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Averaging 12.3 more points per game than last season, Kaufman-Renn is the most improved scorer in the Big Ten ahead of Nick Martinelli (Northwestern).
Fletcher Loyer: is one of two Boilermakers shooting above 50% from three to begin the season and has hit at least three deep balls in four games this season. With with Braden Smith with a team-high 83 career starts, Loyer has hit at least one three and scored at least ten points in three consecutive games, while Purdue is 24-1 when Loyer and Smith combine for at least 25 points in a game.
Braden Smith: the reigning first-team all-conference selection and Big Ten preseason player of the year is one of three players to start all nine games and average double figures this season. One year after setting both a conference and school-record with 292 assists, Smith leads the country in assist rate (47.6) per KenPom while he averages over 13 points per game against Maryland in his career.
Julian Reese Record Watch
Heading into Sunday, Julian Reese sits:
tied with Bruno Fernando for the fifth-most double-doubles in program history (25) and will tie Jalen Smith & Terrence Morris with his next double-double.
four offensive rebounds away from tying Johnny Rhodes for fourth-most all time
two blocks away from tying Travis Garrison for ninth-most all-time
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