Maryland men’s basketball fans had many moments to remember in College Park last season.
Fans stormed the court for the first time since 2015 after an exhilarating second-half run and win over then-No. 3 Purdue. The Terps took down a ranked Northwestern in front of a sold-out crowd — one of three times a raucous Xfinity Center was at full capacity last season. Fans witnessed defeat on their home court just once all year in 17 games.
Maryland struggled on the road last season but shined at Xfinity Center en route to a perfect conference record in College Park and, eventually, an NCAA tournament appearance in the Terps’ first season with Kevin Willard. This year played out much differently.
After blowing a 16-point second half lead to a struggling Indiana team on Sunday, the Terps finished their Big Ten home slate at 4-6. It’s their worst mark since the 2021-22 season, when interim coach Danny Manning led the team after Mark Turgeon’s departure. Maryland floundered at the very same place it thrived last season.
[Maryland men’s basketball’s tumultuous year tarnished Jahmir Young’s historic season]
That’s played a large part in one of the Terps’ worst seasons of the 21st century. Maryland sits at 15-15 entering its regular season finale, in danger of finishing the season with a losing record for only the second time since 1993.
The lone blemish on Maryland’s home schedule last season was a 27-point loss to then-No. 16 UCLA in December 2022. The Terps won 19 straight games at home since that defeat, including eight contests this season — but only one came against a high-major squad. The streak ended when Maryland fell to then-No. 1 Purdue in January.
The Terps have continued to struggle in College Park since. They went 4-6 at home in Big Ten play and finished 11-6 at Xfinity Center this season, their worst mark since their 2021-22 season. It’s only the third time they’ve lost six conference home games since joining the Big Ten.
[Maryland men’s basketball falls to Indiana, 83-78, after blowing 16-point lead]
“We’ve struggled at home this year … that’s probably been the most frustrating thing in the last three games,” Willard said after Maryland’s loss to Indiana on Sunday. “We haven’t struggled nearly as much on the road, they seem much more relaxed on the road.”
While some of those home losses came against the Big Ten’s best teams, such as Purdue and Illinois, the Terps also fell to Rutgers and Indiana — two teams that won’t finish conference play with winning records. Maryland didn’t record a win over a ranked team at home this season.
The Terps have the most home losses of any Big Ten team aside from Michigan, which is 3-16 in the Big Ten and 8-22 this season.
Maryland will wrap up its regular season at Penn State, where it hasn’t won since 2015. The Terps will play on Sunday in Pennsylvania as one of the bottom four seeds in the Big Ten tournament for the first time in program history — largely in part to their struggles at home.
