Wolverines to Usher in New Year with Big Ten Road Battle at Maryland

» After playing on Christmas Day at Nebraska, Michigan heads to Maryland for a New Year's Eve tilt.
» The Wolverines enter the week ranked 16th in the AP poll and 15th in the coaches poll. The Big Ten has nine teams ranked among the nation's top 25 -- the most ever for a week in the history of the league.
» After leading U-M to its first road win at Nebraska, Hunter Dickinson was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week for the third time. He is second on U-M with 15.3 points per game and leads with 8.4 rebounds.
» Isaiah Livers leads the Wolverines with 15.4 points per game. Over the last two seasons he has missed three free throws, going 62-for-65 (95.4 percent). This season, he leads U-M at 94.7 percent (18-for-19), which is second in Big Ten and 21st nationally.

Up Next

The 16th-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (7-0, 2-0 B1G) hits the road for a second straight Big Ten Conference holiday match-up at Maryland on New Year's Eve (Thursday, Dec. 31) at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tipoff (note new time) on ESPN with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Dan Dakich (analyst) as the broadcast crew.

Hail From Home

Game days may look different this season, but the tradition of cheering on Michigan men's basketball continues. Hail From Home is our way to virtually bring the excitement of game day to fans. Throughout the season, fans can look forward to a variety of digital engagements including a game day check-in with monthly prizes, fan cutouts at Crisler Center, game day playlists, Crisler scoreboard messages, special theme games, and more. » Hail from Home

There Can Be No Nights Off in this League

• As of Dec. 28, the Big Ten has nine teams ranked among the nation's top 25 teams in both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll: Wisconsin (6/7), Iowa (10/11), Rutgers (14/13), Illinois (15/16), Michigan (16/15), Michigan State (17/18), Northwestern (19/22), Minnesota (t22/t24) and Ohio State (25/t20).
• The nine programs among the top 25 are the most in a week ever for the Big Ten. In fact, it is the most for any conference since 2011 when the Big East had nine ranked in one week.
• In addition to those nine, the Big Ten has two teams receiving votes: Indiana and Purdue.
• After the Big Ten (9), the conferences with the most ranked teams are the Big 12 with five and the ACC with four among both polls.
• The Big Ten (+18.73) is listed as the top conference by Ken Pom with the Big 12 (+18.26), ACC (+15.03) and SEC (14.43) behind.

Who are the Maryland Terrapins?

• Maryland (6-3, 1-2 B1G) returns home to host Michigan after two straight Big Ten road games and upsetting No. 6 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, 70-64, on Monday (Dec. 28).
• After starting 4-0, the Terrapins lost three of their next four games (at Clemson, Rutgers, at Purdue) before the win over the Badgers.
• A trio of players lead the Terrapins, paced by junior guard Eric Ayala with 14.7 points per game. Sophomore forward Donta Scott is second in scoring with 12.9 points per game along with a team-best 6.9 rebounds, while junior guard Aaron Wiggins is third at 11.0.
• As a team, Maryland averages 14.2 assists per game as Wiggins (26), senior guard Darryl Morsell (26) and Ayala (24) combine for 76 of the 128 total.
• Maryland averages 74.6 points and 36.0 rebounds per game.

The Series with Maryland

• Thursday's game will be the 16th all-time meeting between Michigan and Maryland. Michigan leads in the all-time series, 8-7, and the Wolverines have won four of the last five meetings.
• U-M holds a 4-1 record in Ann Arbor and is 3-5 in College Park, as U-M has won two of the last three games at the Xfinity Center. The teams are 1-1 in neutral-site games, with the last meeting in December 2000 at the BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C.
• There have been three games when both Michigan and Maryland were ranked among the nation's top 25, and the Wolverines hold a 2-1 edge. During the 2018-19 season, No. 6 Michigan pulled off a 65-52 victory over No. 24 Maryland at Crisler Center on Feb. 16, and the No. 9 Wolverines earned a 69-62 road win over the No. 17 Terrapins on March 3. No. 9 Maryland defeated No. 25 Michigan, 83-70, to win its first ever Big Ten title on March 8, 2020 at the Xfinity Center.
• There have been two games decided by three points or fewer with U-M leading, 2-0. The last time was a dramatic 68-67 win for U-M at Crisler Center on Jan. 15, 2018. After Kevin Huerter made a three-pointer with three seconds left to give Maryland a 67-66 lead, a driving Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was fouled by Bruno Fernando with one second left. He drained both free throws, and the Wolverines escaped with the win.
• There has never been an overtime game in the all-time series.
• Longest U-M win streak: four games (Jan. 15, 2018 to March 3, 2019).
• Longest U-M losing streak: three game (Dec. 2, 2000 to Feb. 28, 2015)
• Largest U-M Victory: +24 (85-61) at Maryland on Feb. 24, 2018
• Largest U-M Loss: -31 (82-51) vs. Maryland on Dec. 2, 2000 at the BB&T Classic
• U-M Victories by 10+ Points: 4 | U-M Losses by 10+ Points: 3
• U-M's average margin in wins: +10.8 | U-M's average margin in losses: -10.6
• All-Time U-M Points: 941 (62.7) | All-Time Maryland Points: 929 (61.9)

A Familiar Face

• When U-M plays Maryland, the Wolverines will be reunited with Terrapins assistant coach DeAndre Haynes, who spent two seasons as an assistant with the Maize and Blue (2017-19).
• During his time with U-M, Haynes helped the Wolverines to a 63-15 record with two straight 30+ win seasons, including a school-record 33 wins in 2017-18.
• U-M won the 2018 Big Ten Tournament -- its second straight title -- and made a trip to the Final Four and NCAA championship against Villanova. The following season U-M advanced to its third straight Big Ten Tournament title game as well as the NCAA Sweet 16 for a third straight year.

Perfect Material for the Broadcast

• After scoring in double figures in all seven games, Hunter Dickinson is barely second (by just a single point) on the team in scoring (15.3). However, he leads with 8.4 boards per game.
• Dickinson has played in seven total career games and earned three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors (Dec. 7, 14, 28).
• Dickinson is shooting 69.4 percent from the field, which leads the Big Ten and is 13th nationally. He has six games of 5+ buckets. He shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) in his first three games before improving to 73.6 percent (28-for-38) over the next four.
• Dickinson has recorded nine of his team-best 12 blocks over the last three games, including a career-best four swats against Toledo (Dec. 9).
• Franz Wagner has 5+ rebounds in all seven games. He is second on the team with 7.3 boards per game.
• Mike Smith has had 3+ assists in all seven games and leads U-M with 5.0 assists per game.
• Smith has shot 5-for-9 (55.5%) from the three-point line over his last three games. Prior to that, he was 1-for-9 from long range (four games).
• Smith (35; 5.0 apg) and Eli Brooks (26; 3.7 apg) have combined for 61 of U-M's 126 total assists. Five Wolverines have 10+ assists on the season.
• Over the last two seasons Isaiah Livers has missed three free throws, going 62-for-65 (95.4 percent). This season, he has one miss and leads U-M at 94.7 percent (18-for-19), which is second in Big Ten and 21st nationally.
• With six double-figure scoring games, including five 15+ and two 20+, Livers leads U-M with 15.4 points per game.
• Michigan has scored 80+ points in six games and is averaging 82.0 per game -- 54th nationally.
• The Wolverines are shooting 77.2 percent from the free throw line -- 27th nationally and first in the Big Ten. U-M has five players shooting above 82 percent.
• U-M is shooting 51.5 percent from the field -- 17th nationally (2nd in Big Ten). As for shooting defense, the Wolverines lead the Big Ten (36.4 percent).
• The Wolverines average 41.4 rebounds per game (50th nationally); however, their 32.0 defensive boards per game is seventh in the nation and leads the Big Ten.