Opponent: Northwestern Wildcats (15-13, 6-9 Big Ten)
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Tipoff date/time: Monday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. EST
Last game: Maryland beat Rutgers 61-51, Northwestern lost to Michigan State 65-60
Last meeting: Maryland beat Northwestern 73-57 on Feb. 10, 2018
TV: FS1 — Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst)
Streaming: foxsportsgo.com
Radio: 105.7 FM (Baltimore) / ESPN 980 AM (DC) — Johnny Holliday (play-by-play) and Chris Knoche (analyst)
Spread: Even (via OddsShark)
Kenpom prediction: Maryland wins 67-66
What to watch for Maryland: Actually winning a road game
It’s been a while since Maryland went into another team’s arena and left with a victory. In fact, we’ve already blogged about it. The Terps have one final chance to win away from the friendly confines of Xfinity Center in the regular season. If they fail to do so, their chances of making the NCAA Tournament without winning the Big Ten Tournament will decrease even more than they already have.
What to watch for Northwestern: Recovering from a massive blown lead
Maryland: We blew a double-digit halftime lead and wasted a golden chance to beat MSU.
Northwestern: Hold my beer. pic.twitter.com/QoFmDFBTOX
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) February 17, 2018
Northwestern’s had a rough season. After a much-ballyhooed first appearance in the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats haven’t lived up to the hype created by their preseason No. 19 ranking and the many boisterous alumni from their journalism school. But when Northwestern jumped out to a 43-16 lead against No. 2 Michigan State on Saturday, it looked like the Wildcats would be able to pick up a very impressive win.
*Ron Howard narrator voice* They didn’t.
“Chicago’s Big Ten team” scored a grand total of 11 points in the second half, blowing a 27-point lead in what was truly an epic collapse. Now, the question for the Wildcats is: Will they want to get that bitter taste out of their mouth, or will a loss that devastating mean they have no motivation left for the rest of their disappointing season?