Preview, how to watch No. 13 Maryland basketball's regular-season finale vs. Northwestern
It's Senior Day for Julian Reese and others, and Big Ten Tournament stakes are on the line.
The end of the regular season is here, and the Maryland men's basketball team is trending in an incredibly positive direction heading into the postseason.
The No. 13 Terps (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) welcome Northwestern (16-14, 7-12) to a sold-out XFINITY Center on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams. Big Ten Tournament stakes are on the line for Maryland, which will secure a double bye and a seed between No. 2 and No. 4 with a win.
Maryland is coming off a 71-65 road win over No. 17 Michigan. The Terps, who led by 11 at halftime, survived the Wolverines' push and led for 34:31 on the road. Rodney Rice had a team-high 19 points, and Selton Miguel and Derik Queen each had 17. Ja'Kobi Gillespie had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists. Julian Reese had six points, but his defense on Vladislav Goldin down the stretch was arguably the difference in the game.
Northwestern had won three straight games before a 73-69 home loss to UCLA on Monday. The Terps will look to even the score after a heartbreaking 76-74 overtime loss at Northwestern on Jan. 16 on a buzzer-beater by Nick Martinelli.
Saturday is Senior Day for Maryland. The Terps will get the chance to honor Reese, a true Terp who stuck with Maryland through a coaching change, portal rumors and more adversity.
"For all these seniors. I look at, Jordan [Geronimo's] been with me two years. You look at a guy like Selton [Miguel] and [Jay Young], who've given up their last year to come play for you, it's very special. And obviously for Julian, I think our fans need to get to the arena early," Kevin Willard said after the Michigan win. "It's a three o'clock Saturday game. There's no reason why everybody can't be in early. Julian, he went through a coaching change. He goes through a really tough year last year. Most people bail. He stayed true to the University of Maryland. He stayed true to the Terps.
"He deserves an unbelievable ovation because he showed what loyalty is all about. He showed what character is all about. And not only that, but he's been a hell of a player."
Here's everything you need to know about how to watch, follow and listen to the matchup.
Tipoff: 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland
TV/Streaming: Peacock – Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Stephen Bardo (analyst)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network, 105.7FM (Baltimore), 980AM (D.C.) – Johnny Holliday (play-by-play), Chris Knoche (analyst), Walt Williams (analyst), Tom Marchitto (engineer)
Live Stats: Link
KenPom Line: Maryland -10
Northwestern is currently not in the NCAA Tournament conversation. The Wildcats are 54th in the NET, 47th at KenPom, 55th at BartTorvik and 46th in the ESPN Basketball Power Index. Their resume-based metrics are worse, with the Wildcats 68th in KPI, 70th in strength of record and 73rd in wins above bubble. Northwestern is 3-10 in Quadrant 1, 5-3 in Quadrant 2, 3-1 in Quadrant 3 and 5-0 in Quadrant 4. Saturday is a Quad 2 game for Maryland and a Quad 1 game for Northwestern.
Chris Collins has done a fantastic job in his 12 seasons leading Northwestern, bringing the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons. This season, he has gotten Northwestern to continue playing inspired despite season-ending injuries to stars Brooks Barnhizer (foot) and Jalen Leach (ACL).
Martinelli, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, is Northwestern's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game. He also averages 6.1 rebounds per game and shoots 46.9% from the field and 36% from three. He has played 95% of the minutes during Big Ten play, the top in the conference. Martinelli, who hit the dagger against the Terps in January, has a strong track record against Maryland. He is averaging 24.5 points per game in his last two outings against the Terps.
Ty Berry, a 6-foot-3 graduate guard, is Northwestern's only other active double-digit scorer at 10.5 points per game. He is shooting 40.6% from the field and 38.9% from three. Berry averages just 0.8 turnovers per game and ranks fifth in the Big Ten during conference play with an 8.5% turnover rate. Berry has scored at least 22 points in three of Northwestern's last six games.
Sophomore guard Jordan Clayton, junior guard Justin Mullins and 7-foot graduate center Matthew Nicholson have joined Martinelli and Berry in each of Northwestern's last seven starting lineups.
Nicholson, who has zero career three-point attempts, averages 5.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. He shoots 61.9% from the field and 52.9% from the free-throw line. Nicholson has the third-best block percentage in the Big Ten during league play. Mullins averages 4.3 points per game and shoots 47.6% from the field, 54.5% from the free-throw line and 31.9% from three. He is averaging 6.3 points per game since entering the starting lineup. Clayton averages 3.1 points per game and made his season debut when he entered the starting lineup on Feb. 8.
Freshman guard K.J. Windham is Northwestern's sixth man. He averages 5.0 points per game and shoots 37.4% from the field and 30.9% from three. Windham is averaging 13.3 points per game over Northwestern's last four games.
Sixth-year 7-foot center Keenan Fitzmorris (2.5 points per game) and 6-foot-6 freshman guard Angelo Ciaravino (3.5 PPG) played eight and four minutes, respectively, off the bench Monday to wrap up Northwestern's rotation. Six-foot-10 forward Luke Hunger (3.2 PPG) averages 13.1 minutes per game but did not play last game.
Maryland has plenty of motivation to end the regular season on a strong note Saturday, from Reese's Senior Day to the Big Ten Tournament implications to avenging a heartbreaking loss to Northwestern and more. Maryland has been one of the best teams in the country since mid-January, winning 12 of their last 15 games; the only losses have been on game-winning shots in the final seconds. Look for the Terps to come out with a fire in front of a rocking XFINITY Center to end a successful regular season.
