Wolverines to Return Home for Tuesday Tilt with Maryland

» Michigan hosts Maryland Tuesday night in the lone regular season game between the two programs this season.
» U-M will play its first game in Ann Arbor since Dec. 18, marking a 31 day span in which the Wolverines did not play at home.
» Michigan will honor MLK Day by wearing special shooting shirts.

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

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The University of Michigan men's basketball team returns home for the first time in over a month to host Maryland at Crisler Center on Tuesday (Jan. 18) in the only regular season meeting between the two programs. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (analyst) and Myron Medcalf (sideline) on the call.

Note: Effective Jan. 1, 2022, the University of Michigan has instituted a proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative-test protocol for indoor athletic events. Face masks continue to be required and must be worn during all home indoor athletic events. [ U-M Vaccination Policy ]

The Scene Setter

• Michigan will honor MLK Day by wearing special shooting shirts.

• Tuesday's contest will begin a three-game stretch of single plays -- Maryland (Jan. 18), at Indiana (Jan. 23) and Northwestern (Jan. 26). U-M also had a single play game against Minnesota (Dec. 11) and is scheduled for upcoming games at Penn State (Feb. 8) and at Wisconsin (Feb. 20).

• U-M will play its first home game since Dec. 18 (Southern Utah), marking a 31 day span in which the Wolverines did not play at home.

• U-M canceled its game with Purdue-Fort Wayne (Dec. 21) due to COVID-19 protocols in the Mastodon program. U-M had to postpone games with No. 10 MSU (Jan. 8) and No. 7 Purdue (Jan. 11) due to COVID-19 protocols within the Wolverine program.

• Michigan has battled COVID-19 protocols over the last two weeks -- as five players missed the game at Rutgers (Jan. 4) before postponing the MSU and Purdue games. Last time out, U-M was without Hunter Dickinson and Brandon Johns Jr. at Illinois (Jan. 14), who traveled but did not play due to conditioning and stamina after effects.

• A U-M victory would give head coach Juwan Howard his 50th win, tying him with his former coach and mentor, Steve Fisher as the fastest U-M coach to 50-wins (74 games).

Breaking Down the Wolverines

• The last time U-M lost three straight games was a four-game stretch in the 2019-20 season -- nearly two years to the exact dates. The stretch included games at Minnesota (L, 75-67; Jan. 12, 2020), at Iowa (L, 90-83; Jan. 17, 2020), Penn State (L, 72-63, Jan. 22, 2020) and No. 21 Illinois (L, 64-62; Jan. 25, 2020).

• For a second straight season, Hunter Dickinson leads U-M in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (8.8). Last season as a consensus All-America second teamer, he led U-M with 14.1 points (first frosh since 2018-19; Ignas Brazdeikis) and 7.4 rebounds (first frosh since 2012-13; Mitch McGary).

• Dickinson has 11 double-figure scoring games with a team-best four 20+ point games, including a season-best 27 in the season opener against Buffalo (Nov. 10).

• Hunter Dickinson has a team-best six games of 10+ rebounds, which has led to a team-best five double-doubles.

• In 28 games last season, Dickinson had 25 total assists. Through 13 games, he has matched that total, including a career-best-tying four against Seton Hall (Nov. 16). He has six games of 3+ assists.

• Hunter Dickinson has posted a team-best four games with 10+ field goals and is shooting 59.1 percent from the field. He had 11 (vs. Buffalo), 10 (vs. San Diego State), 11 (vs. Southern Utah) and 10 (at Rutgers).

• Eli Brooks is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, posting double figures in 12 games.

• DeVante' Jones has made eight of his 12 three-pointers over his last four games.

• Eli Brooks (24), Caleb Houstan (20) and DeVante' Jones (12) have accounted for 56 of U-M's 88 three-pointers (63 percent).

• Houstan (4.5 rpg) has grabbed 48 of his 63 rebounds over his last eight games.

• This season, Eli Brooks has gone 25-for-28 (89.3 percent) from the free throw line. He is 65-for-72 (90.2 percent) over his last two seasons and for his career he is shooting 81.0 percent (111-for-137).

• Right behind Brooks from free throw line is Caleb Houstan, who is 25-for-33 (75.8 percent).

• DeVante' Jones leads U-M with 51 assists (3.6 apg). He had a season-best eight assists at Nebraska (Dec. 7) and versus UNLV (Nov. 19) at the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas. He has five games of 5+ assists.

• Moussa Diabate, who is second on the team with 6.1 boards per game, has 10 games with 5+ rebounds -- including his last five, which included his first 10+ board game (13 at Minnesota on Dec. 11).

• Hunter Dickinson (13) and Moussa Diabate (10) have 23 of Michigan's 40 blocks (57 percent).

The Maryland Terrapins

• After starting the season 5-3, Maryland had its head coach (Mark Turgeon) resign and interim head coach Danny Manning take over. Since then, the Terrapins (9-8) have gone 4-5, dropping four of their last five, with the lone win in that span coming at Northwestern after two overtime periods.

• Maryland is in the midst of a seven game stretch in which the Terps are playing every third day. Since Big Ten play restarted in January, the Terrapins will have played six games (including U-M) in a 15-day span. The run ends with Illinois (Jan. 21).

• Maryland averages 70.9 points, 38.4 rebounds and 12.0 assists per game.

• The Terrapins have made 361 trips to the free throw line (21.2 per game, 24th nationally) and 30 percent of their scoring comes from the charity stripe. Maryland has five different players with 40+ trips to the charity stripe so far this season.

• Maryland plays primarily an eight-man rotation and is led by senior guard Eric Ayala. He leads the team with 16.0 points per game and has 15 double-figure games with five of 20+ points. Just over 53 percent of his offense comes from long range as he has a team-best 44 long range buckets (2.6 per game). Over his last five games, he has made 20 of 44 triples (46.5%).

• Graduate student guard Fatts Russell played four seasons at Rhode Island before using the NCAA's extra year and heading to Maryland. He has averaged 12.9 points per game with 3.9 rebounds and a team-best 4.1 assists per game. He has posted five double-figure games over his last six.

• Junior forward Donta Scott posts 11.9 points per game, along with a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game. He has 14 games of 5+ rebounds, including two with 10 or more. He also has 22 three-pointers and 13 blocks.

• Maryland has made 29 NCAA Tournaments, with back-to-back trips to the Final Four in 2001 and 2002. The Terrapins won the national title in 2002 with a victory over Indiana, 64-52.

The Michigan-Maryland Series

• Michigan and Maryland have played 18 games, with the Wolverines leading 11-7.

• U-M has a 5-1 record in Ann Arbor, as the Wolverines have won the last three meetings at Crisler Center.

• There has never been an overtime game in the series between the two programs.

• Longest U-M win streak: four games (Jan. 15, 2018 to March 3, 2019)
• Longest U-M losing streak: three games (Dec. 2, 2000 to Feb. 28, 2015)
• Largest U-M win: 24 points (twice) -- at U-M (87-63) on Jan. 19, 2021; at Maryland (85-51) on Feb. 24, 2018
• Largest U-M loss: 31 points (82-51), at BB&T Classic on Dec. 2, 2000
• Most U-M points: 87, Jan. 19, 2021 (W, 87-63) in Ann Arbor
• Most Maryland points: 86, Feb. 21, 2016 (L, 86-82) in College Park
• 10+ point victories: six | 20+ wins: two | 10+ point losses: three | 20+ losses: one
• Series points: U-M: 1,187 (65.9 ppg) | Maryland: 1,131 (62.8 ppg)

Up Next

Sunday, Jan. 23-- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 3:30 p.m. (CBS)