Michigan
Maryland
Wolverines Head to No. 17 Maryland for Key Big Ten Battle
3/2/2019 8:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball
» No. 9 Michigan heads to No. 17 Maryland for the first of two road games to end the Big Ten regular season.
» With a win, the Wolverines could secure a top three seed at the Big Ten Tournament.
» Sunday's game will be the second matchup between the Wolverines and the Terrapins after U-M took the first game with a 65-52 win at Crisler Center (Feb. 16).
» Jon Teske heads to Maryland having recorded back-to-back games with a double-double. He is also 6-for-9 from long range over his last three games.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, March 3 -- at No. 17 Maryland, 3:45 p.m. (CBS)
• TV: CBS | Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Satellite Radio: Sirius: 84 | XM/SXM: 84 | Internet: 84
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
The ninth-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (25-4, 14-4 Big Ten) heads to Maryland (21-8, 12-6 Big Ten) for a key late-season Big Ten battle for conference tournament seeding at Xfinity Center. In a CBS broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. with Kevin Harland and Dan Bonner on the call.
A Little Bit About Maryland
• Maryland hosts the Maize and Blue sporting a 21-8 overall record, including a 12-6 mark in Big Ten Conference play. Since its loss to U-M, Maryland won at Iowa (66-65) and defeated Ohio State (72-62) before falling at Penn State (78-61).
• The Terrapins have a 14-2 record at Xfinity Center and are 7-0 in Big Ten play. The lone home setbacks were to Virginia (76-71) in the ACC/B1G Challenge and Seton Hall (78-74).
• Maryland is led by 15.9 points per game from junior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. He adds a team-best 128 assists (4.4 apg) and leads the Terrapins with 59 three-pointers (2.0 per game).
• In addition to Cowan's 59 triples, Maryland has two additional players with 40-plus three-pointers. Freshman Aaron Wiggins adds 56, while fellow freshman Eric Ayala has made 46.
• Adding to the outside shooting, sophomore big man Bruno Fernando averages a double-double with 14.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. He leads the Big Ten in field-goal percentage, shooting 64.7 percent from the floor and is second in blocks (53, 1.8 bpg). Freshman forward Jalen Smith adds 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and has 31 blocks.
• Maryland leads the Big Ten in rebounding margin, out-rebounding its opponents by 9.1 rebounds per game (39.5 to 30.4).
• Mark Turgeon is in his eighth season as head coach at Maryland, having guided the Terps to three NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure. Turgeon also led Wichita State to the NCAA Tournament (2006) and took Texas A&M to the NCAA Tournament four times (2008-11).
The Series With the Terrapins
• Sunday's game marks the 14th all-time meeting between Michigan and Maryland.
• With a 65-52 win earlier this season, U-M holds a 7-6 record in the all-time series against the Terrapins and the Wolverines own a three-game win streak after losing five of the previous six.
• The Maize and Blue is 2-3 all-time in games played in College Park and at Xfinity Center.
• There has not been an overtime game in the series.
• Sunday's game marks the second time Michigan and Maryland have faced each other when both programs were among the nation's top 25. The first time was earlier this season.
• There have been two games decided by three points or fewer with U-M leading, 2-0. The last time a game was decided by three points or fewer was last season's dramatic 68-67 home victory for U-M on Jan. 15, 2018. After Maryland's Kevin Huerter drained a three-pointer with three seconds remaining the Terrapins held a 67-66 lead. Isaiah Livers then made a half-court pass that was caught by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who drove to the basket and was fouled sending him to the free throw line. Draining both free throws, U-M won the game, 68-67, and Abdur-Rahkman scored his 1,000th career point.
• U-M head coach John Beilein is 5-4 all-time against Maryland.
Earlier This Season ...
• Michigan bested its sixth ranked opponent of the season with a 65-52 win over No. 24 Maryland at Crisler Center on Feb. 16. The Wolverines jumped out to an early 21-6 first-half lead against the Terrapins and never trailed the rest of the game.
• Charles Matthews led the U-M offense with 14 points and six rebounds, while Ignas Brazdeikis and Zavier Simpson also recorded double-digit afternoons with 13 and 12 points, respectively
• Simpson added eight assists while Jon Teske, who had nine points and four rebounds, added three blocks to the Michigan effort.
• Maryland's Aaron Wiggins led Maryland with 15 points as he knocked down three three-pointers, while Bruno Fernando had 12 points and eight rebounds.
It Comes Down to This
• Michigan has two regular-season games remaining and are still in the hunt for the Big Ten title.
• U-M has a 14-4 record and is a half-game behind Michigan State (14-3) and Purdue (14-3).
• The Wolverines close the regular season at No. 17 Maryland (March 3) and at No. 6 Michigan State (March 9).
• With a win at either Maryland or at MSU, the Maize and Blue can assure itself a double bye and a top three seed at the Big Ten Tournament.
The Battle for the Top Five
1. Michigan State (14-3): at Indiana (March 2), Nebraska (March 5), Michigan (March 9)
2. Purdue (14-3): Ohio State (March 2), at Minnesota (March 5), at Northwestern (March 9)
3. Michigan (14-4): at Maryland (March 3), at Michigan State (March 9)
4. Maryland (12-6): Michigan (March 3), Minnesota (March 8)
5. Wisconsin (12-6): Penn State (March 2), Iowa (March 7), at Ohio State (March 10)
This and That
• Charles Matthews continues to nurse a sprained right ankle suffered against Michigan State (Feb. 24). He is listed as day-to-day. He missed his first career game at U-M against Nebraska (Feb. 28), snapping a streak of 69 straight games. Throughout his time with the Maize and Blue Matthews has a 58-12 record in his two seasons since transferring from Kentucky.
• Michigan held Minnesota (Feb. 21) to just one three-pointer. That tied a season-low for a U-M opponent after Penn State made just one in the game at Crisler Center (Jan. 3). U-M's opponents average 4.6 per game.
• After not recording an assist against Minnesota (Jan. 22) at Crisler Center, Zavier Simpson dished 84 (7.6 apg) dimes over his next 11 games, including three games with double-digit assists. He had a career-best 12, twice -- against Ohio State (Jan. 29) and against at Minnesota (Feb. 21). He added 10 more against Nebraska (Feb. 28).
• Shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 3-for-3 from long range, Jon Teske finally broke through setting a new career-best with 22 points against Nebraska (Feb. 28) -- his first game with 20 points of more. Prior to that performance, Teske was stuck on a best of 17 points, which he hit for five times this season. Overall, he has 13 double figure scoring games.
• In addition to his 22 points, Teske posted his second straight double-double as he collected 10 rebounds against the Cornhuskers. Overall, it was his team-best fifth this season and sixth of his career. In the last two games, Teske is averaging 16.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and has shot 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from the field.
• For the third time this season, Teske made a career-best three three-pointers in a game. He is 6-for-9 over his last three games from deep -- hitting three at Minnesota (Feb. 21) and three more against the Cornhuskers. He set the mark with three against Northwestern (Jan. 13).
• With Charles Matthews missing the Nebraska game (Feb. 28) due to a right ankle injury, Isaiah Livers started his first game of the season and responded by posting his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best tying 10 rebounds. Livers started 22 games as a freshman.
• As Isaiah Livers slid over to Charles Matthews' spot in the rotation, it opened a spot for the five man for the Maize and Blue. After a coaching staff vote and discussion, freshman Colin Castleton got the call and responded with a career-best 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, grabbing three rebounds and recording a block in nine minutes off the bench.
• David DeJulius played 17 minutes against Nebraska (Feb. 28), his first game with double figure minutes. He had not played more than seven minutes in a game. Prior to the game with the Cornhuskers, he played 53 total minutes (3.1 mpg) in 17 games.
• After becoming a fan-favorite with his first career three-pointer in Michigan's NCAA Sweet 16 win over Texas A&M, sophomore C.J. Baird or "Three-J," has made two big threes this season in the waning minutes of games much to the U-M crowd's delight. First he drained a triple against Chattanooga (Nov. 23) and followed with a second against Nebraska (Feb. 28). Known for his scout-team shooting, Baird can hit the triple from all over the court.
