Opponent: No. 11-seed Belmont Bruins (27-5, 16-2 OVC), NCAA tournament Round of 64
Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
Tipoff: 3:10 p.m., Thursday, March 21
Last Matchup: Never
Last game: Maryland lost to Nebraska 69-61 in the Big Ten tournament, Belmont beat Temple 81-70 in the First Four
Odds: Maryland -3 (per OddsShark)
Kenpom prediction: Maryland wins, 77-72 (65 percent odds)
TV: truTV — Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst) and Jamie Erdahl (sideline)
Streaming: truTV Live
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network (105.7 FM Baltimore, 980 AM D.C.) — Johnny Holliday (play-by-play) and Chris Knoche (analyst)
Student Radio: WMUC Sports — Justin Gallanty and Connor Newcomb
What to watch for Maryland: Offensive rebounding
It’s no secret that the Terps have dominated the glass this year. Thanks to the one-two punch of Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith, Maryland is 26th in the country in offensive rebounding rate. But they’ll have their work cut out for them against the Bruins, whose defense is built largely on boards — they rank 30th nationally in opposing offensive rebounding rate. In their embarrassing Big Ten tournament loss to Nebraska, Bruno and the Terps struggled to grab 50/50 balls, and they can’t afford to let that problem linger against Belmont.
What to watch for Belmont: Shooting
On the offensive end, the Bruins don’t grab too many boards or draw too many fouls, but they take care of the ball (18th nationally in turnover rate) and they’re great shooters (third nationally in effective field goal percentage). The former trait matches up well with the Terps, who can’t force turnovers to save their life. It’s the latter that might give Belmont some trouble — Mark Turgeon’s squad has limited opponents to a 46 percent eFG percentage this year, which is No. 17 in the country. It’s a given that Maryland will contest the Bruins’ shots, and they’ll have to sink them if they want to pull off the upset.
