Preview: Maryland men's basketball set to begin NCAA Tournament run vs. Grand Canyon

#4 Maryland (25-8) vs. #13 Grand Canyon (6-7)

When & Where: March 21, 2025 | 4:35 PM ET (1:35 PM PT) | Climate Pledge Arena

TV: TBS | Lisa Byington, Robbie Hummel, Jalen Rose, Andy Katz

Radio: One Maryland App | 105.7 FM (Baltimore) | 980 AM (DC) | SiriusXM channel 204/211

Betting: Maryland -10.5 | O/U: 150.5

After a season filled with highlights and new marks, Maryland men's basketball will now look to continue that into postseason play when the four-seeded Terps out of the West Region now turn their attention to their first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament in Seattle, Washington against #13 seeded Grand Canyon.

While Friday marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Maryland will look to maintain their opening weekend success where they've won 15 of their last 16 opening round games dating back to 1997. Maryland is also 8-5 all-time on the West Coast in the NCAA Tournament.

The Grand Canyon Lopes come into the dance off the heels of a WAC tournament championship, and winners in nine of their last ten matchups. Similarly to Maryland, they were unbelievable at home finishing with a 16-1 home record this season.

The Lopes also have a starting five that runs deep with offensive production, another commonality with Maryland. Now the Crab Five features arguably the best starting unit of any team in the country, but Grand Canyon provides four starters who average double-digit scoring outputs.

JaKobe Coles and Tyan Grant-Foster are the Lopes’ two highest scorers to watch out for if you're a Maryland fan. Listed as a guard at 6 '7, Grant-Foster has been a big banged up throughout this season, but when right can be a problem for opposing defenses.

Then there is Coles, leading the Lopes with just under 15 points a contest, who has made a living on scoring the basketball this season. Similar to Grant-Foster he’s a guaranteed 10+ points a night. But for Coles, his streak of 10 or more has had life since early January.

The Lopes don’t pose a threat from long distance, shooting around 31% from three, and have a 73% clip from the foul line. On the other end, Maryland shot over 37% from three and led the Big Ten Conference with 81.7 ppg.

Now for Maryland, they’ve had a good amount of time to rest since their devastating defeat against Michigan in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. By almost every measure, they have the advantage over Grand Canyon. However, they will have to be careful to not give away the basketball against a Lopes team that averages over nine steals a game.

The Terps also will come into this matchup averaging slightly less boards per game, with 36.7 rebounds a game compared to GCU’s 37.4. Against teams like Michigan State and Michigan, what came back to bite Maryland was their inability to limit second chances and offensive rebounds for the opposition. The rebounding deficit against the Spartans was 45-33, and last weekend versus the Wolverines was an abysmal 47-18.

The biggest question for fans of the Lopes will be if Grand Canyon can sustain the success they’ve had all year against one of the better teams in the country. They’ve only played one quad game all season and lost that matchup against Georgia at a neutral. Against quad two’s, GCU is 1-3 but then an impressive 9-2 against quad 3’s.

For Maryland, the time has come to make a run at their first national championship since 2002. It’s been a while since the Terps last made a deep run, with their last Sweet 16 appearance coming in the 2014-2015 season. It starts with a chance for redemption out west - and a chance to prove the team's steady growth through conference play.

"I think we were a little bit more immature as a team early on the season and we’ve shown a lot of growth, we’ve shown our team’s identity and what we can really do," Tafara Gapare said.

The Crab Five have a chance to do something incredibly special, but that special something can’t happen without a win on Friday afternoon in the most exciting postseason in sports.

The Madness has officially begun.

By: Oliver Schaack

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