No. 8 Maryland (21-12) vs. No. 9 West Virginia (19-14)
When: Thursday, March 16 | 12:15 p.m. ET
Where: Legacy Arena (Birmingham, Ala.)
Television: CBS (Streaming on March Madness Live) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (color), Grant Hill (color), Tracy Wolfson (sideline)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network | Listen Online
Line: WVU -2.5
Over/Under: 137.5
Series history: West Virginia leads the all-time series 24-14, with the Mountaineers winning the most recent meeting 69-59 on March 22, 2015 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS:
WEST VIRGINIA
Kedrian Johnson (6-foot-3, Sr., G) | 11.2 PPG | 2.3 RPG | 3.2 APG
Erik Stevenson (6-foot-4, Sr., G) | 15.5 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 2.5 APG
Emmitt Matthews (6-foot-7, Sr., F) | 10.4 PPG | 3.9 RPG | 1.2 APG
Tre Mitchell (6-foot-9, Sr., F)| 11.6 PPG | 5.5 RPG | 1.8 APG
Jimmy Bell (6-foot-10, Sr., C) | 4.9 PPG | 5.2 RPG | 0.5 APG
MARYLAND
Jahmir Young (6-foot-1, Sr., PG) | 16.1 | 4.7 RPG | 3.2 APG
Don Carey (6-foot-5, Sr., SG) | 7.3 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 1.1 APG
Hakim Hart (6-foot-8, Sr., G/F) | 11.5 PPG | 4.2 RPG | 2.5 APG
Donta Scott (6-foot-8, Sr., F) | 11.5 PPG | 5.9 RPG | 1.6 APG
Julian Reese (6-foot-9, Soph., F/C) | 11.2 PPG | 7.3 RPG | 1.0 APG
The Terps are back in the Big Dance following a one-year hiatus under first-year head coach Kevin Willard.
Maryland faces a somewhat familiar opponent in border rival West Virginia. The last time these two programs met it was for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. That game was a physical one, with Terps freshman starting point guard Melo Trimble having to leave the game with a concussion after multiple hits to the head.
West Virginia Hall of Fame head coach Bob Huggins is knows for his teams' physical style of basketball and the Terps will be prepared for it.
"That's a team that gets after it a lot," said Maryland big man Julian Reese. "Physical team, pretty physical conference. They like to play really physical. And I feel like we just prepared well for that throughout the weekend. We'll be good against them."
While physical style of play will always be a hallmark of a Huggins coached team, this year's version of the Mountaineers hasn't mastered the 'Press Virginia' style of defense that forced the Terps into 23 turnovers in 2015. Instead, they rely more on their offense.
"I said this before, I think coach Huggins, there's a reason he's a Hall of Famer," said Willard. "He hasn't stuck with the same style year in and year out. He's adapted to his team extremely really well. They are always physical, they always rebound well, they always defend well, but this is a basketball team that's playing so much quicker than what he did back when I played against him eight, nine years ago when I was at Seton Hall. I have always admired Coach Huggins in the way he adapts offensively and defensively with his team."
West Virginia's offense is led by senior guard Erik Stevenson, who averages a team-high 15.5 points per game while shooting just over 38 percent from three. The Mountaineers have four starters in double-figure scoring and bring former Iowa starting point guard Joe Toussaint off the bench who averaged 9.5 points per game.
The Terps are led offensively by seniors Jahmir Young, Hakim Hart and Donta Scott. For Hart and Scott, they have NCAA Tournament experience, having started on a Terps team that advanced to the second round back in 2021. But for the Charlotte transfer Young, it will be his first time in the big dance. And while he's excited to finally experience the tournament, he's ready to lay it all on the line.
"Yeah. I would say just exciting. Just happy to be out here," Young said of playing in his first NCAA Tournament. "Just growing up wanting to be out here, just watching March Madness, just knowing how many people are going to be watching. The excitement that builds up just to play in it. I just feel like we are going to be excited to get out there and compete. They could be -- any time could be our last game. Just trying to leave it all on the floor at the end of the day."
