With Maryland’s 88-72 win over Charlotte on Tuesday, they finished their successful out-of-conference play with only one loss, a 73-59 defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh on Nov. 29.
While the loss was frustrating and only the third time Maryland has lost at home in the Melo Trimble era, they didn’t lose to a terrible opponent – Pittsburgh is from a major conference and made the NCAA Tournament last season.
Maryland’s record in out-of-conference play is particularly strong when you compare the Terps to other Big Ten teams. Over the course of the year, six Big Ten teams have suffered a loss to a pretty major opponent at home. Let’s take a look back on those defeats.
Nov. 11: Albany defeats Penn State, 77-71
Penn State started their season off in dreadful fashion against Albany in the Bryce Jordan Center. Albany shot 50 percent on threes and grabbed 17 more rebounds, and the school from upstate New York was able to score an upset over the Nittany Lions.
Nov. 21: Winthrop defeats Illinois, 84-80 (OT)
Just 10 days after Penn State, Illinois was the next Big Ten team to suffer a home defeat to weaker opponent. Winthrop, located in South Carolina, pulled off an overtime upset of the Fighting Illini in Champaign. Illinois jumped out to an early 14-2 lead in the game, but Winthrop fought back thanks to an impressive 38 points from Keon Johnson, a junior guard from Ohio.
Dec. 3: Nebraska-Omaha defeats Iowa, 98-89
Nebraska-Omaha is the third most well-known college in the state of Nebraska and the second most well-known college in its own city, with the Big East’s Creighton normally getting the basketball spotlight. However, Nebraska-Omaha decided that they would have their day of basketball fame. They came into Iowa City and pulled off the upset thanks to a balanced offense, with four different players scoring in double digits.
Dec. 6: Florida Atlantic defeats Ohio State, 79-77 (OT)
Ohio State was feeling good about itself heading their matchup with Florida Atlantic. They were just six days removed from almost pulling off an upset over Virginia in Charlottesville, ultimately losing 63-61. However, any good vibes from almost pulling off a huge upset on the road were dashed when Ohio State lost to Florida Atlantic in overtime. The Buckeyes only hit of four of their 20 threes in the loss and allowed Florida Atlantic to overcome a 58-47 second half deficit to force overtime.
Dec. 18: Gardner Webb defeats Nebraska, 70-62
Gardner Webb is one of the worst teams in the country when it comes to free throws. The North Carolina school makes less than 60 percent of their free throws and there are only five teams in the country worse than them from the line. Against Nebraska they shot their average, going 15-for-25 at line. And yet, they were still able to beat the Cornhuskers by eight. Nebraska committed eight more turnovers than Gardner Webb, which definitely helped in their loss.
Dec. 18: Northeastern defeats Michigan State, 81-73
The good news for Nebraska is that their loss was not even the most notable loss to happen on Dec. 18 in the Big Ten! That distinction instead belongs to Michigan State, who fell to Northeastern. The Spartans had already suffered four losses prior to Sunday, but all of them were to power conference opponents away from the Breslin Center. Boston-based Northeastern changed that, beating Tom Izzo’s bunch by hitting 11 threes and outscoring the Spartans 31-20 over the last 10 minutes to close the game out.
