Opponent: Gardner-Webb (3-7)
Location: Xfinity Center
Tipoff date/time: Saturday, Dec. 9, 12:30 p.m. EST
Last game: Maryland beat Ohio 87-62, Gardner-Webb lost to Auburn 80-55
Last meeting: N/A
TV: N/A (after this one, there’s only one more non-broadcasted game to go!)
Streaming: BTN2Go (free on campus, $ off campus)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network 105.7 FM (Baltimore) and ESPN 980 AM (Washington, D.C.) — Johnny Holliday, Chris Knoche and Walt Williams
Student radio: WMUC Sports — Connor Newcomb and Liam Beatus
What to watch for the Terps: A depleted frontcourt
Maryland’s victory over Ohio on Thursday was a tad Pyrrhic, as forward Bruno Fernando suffered an ankle sprain in the second half and had to leave the game. The freshman big man is averaging 10.2 points per game, and he’s contributed close to 40 percent of all the team’s blocks.
Thanks to center Michal Cekovsky’s progress as a senior, the Terps should still have a capable presence in the paint if Bruno sits out or is limited against Gardner-Webb. Still, missing the Angolan freshman is bound to hurt, because backup big man Ivan Bender is… a little bit worse.
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Ivan Bender pic.twitter.com/ucFicTwa0T
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) November 25, 2017
What to watch for the Bulldogs: Three-point shooting
Gardner-Webb hasn’t played well this year — that 3-7 record speaks for itself — but the team has been pretty solid from deep. The Bulldogs have made 37.4 percent of their three-point shots, which ranks 94th nationally out of 351 teams. As a point of reference, No. 14 Minnesota is shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Through 11 games, Maryland has allowed opponents to make 30.3 percent of their 3-pointers, the second-best mark in the Big Ten. Still, Gardner-Webb has some shooters — chief among them guard Liam O’Reilly, who’s hoisted 6.5 three-point attempts per game and made 44.6 percent of them. The Terps will need tight perimeter defense to keep the Bulldogs in check.