No. 10 seed Maryland (17-13) vs. No. 2 seed Alabama (25-6)
When & Where: Monday, 8:45 p.m. ET, Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Television: TNT (Streaming on March Madness Live) - Watch Live
Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (color), Allie LaForce (sideline)
Radio: Maryland Radio Network | Listen Online
Line: Alabama -5.5
O/U: 138
Series History: Maryland leads the Crimson Tide in the all-time series 4-1, with the Terps having won the most recent meeting 58-57 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on March 23, 2013 during the quarterfinal round of the NIT.
In-Game Chat: Click Here
What to Watch For:
Galin Smith vs. his former team
With Maryland desperate for help down low this past offseason following the departure of Jalen 'Stix' Smith to the NBA, Mark Turgeon was able to secure a commitment from Alabama transfer Galin Smith.
Fast forward to Monday night and things will come full circle for Smith, as his Terps will have to go through his former team if they want to advance to the second weekend of the tourney. Needless to say, it has added an extra layer of excitement for the fifth-year senior.
“He’s excited, obviously," said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeeon. "It’s funny, we were taking these group pictures up on this rooftop with the bracket behind us and Alabama was up there when we were up there and man, they love Galin. It was really cool to see, they were yelling his name and ‘G’ and all this and he went over and he's giving them all hugs. He’s got a lot of really good friends on that team, I know him and [John] Petty were roommates for a couple of years and really, really close. He talks about him a lot, so Galin’s excited. It’s an opportunity to play against his former teammates, hoping Galin plays well. But I know Galin will be fired up but he also has a ton of respect for those guys and loves his old teammates. Just like we saw Josh Tomiac here, you’d think he was still a part of our team, hugging him in the hallways. So happy for Josh. I’m sure they feel the same way about Galin.”
With such short turnaround times in between games, Smith's familiarity with Alabama's players and coaching staff could also be of an advantage for Maryland.
“Yeah I think it’d be pretty beneficial," said junior guard Aaron Wiggins when asked about Smith's familiarity with his former team. "He might know some certain guys, personnels and positives and negatives, strengths and weaknesses about their games and stuff so he’ll be able to give us a little bit more help in terms of some of their things they’ll try to do against us.”
While the Terps have played a lot of five-out small ball for much of the season, Smith has given the Terps a presence in the paint, averaging 3.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Smith managed just one point and one rebound in seven minutes of action in the Terps' opening round win over UConn. Maryland's only other scoring threat off the bench, Jairus Hamilton, was held scoreless in 11 minutes of action versus the Huskies.
For the Terps to beat a deep Alabama team that likes to get up and down the court, they will likely need significantly more bench production than they got in the opening round. The added excitement of playing his former team could be just what Smith needs to have a breakout performance.
Will Josh Primo play?
Alabama was without SEC All-Freshman team starting forward Josh Primo in their opening round win over Iona. That's because Primo suffered a sprained MCL in the Tide's SEC Tournament quarterfinals win.
On Sunday, Alabama head coach Nate Oats was asked about Primo's status for Monday night's game versus Maryland.
“We didn’t have a live practice today, so he couldn’t try to go live. He hasn’t gone live yet,” Oats told reporters. "He's getting better, he's doing more and more stuff in practice. We’ll see. He'll probably be a game-day decision. We were pushing to try to get him by this game, and our trainer’s pretty good, so we’ll see how he feels in the morning and go through shootaround and make a decision as we get closer to the game.
“But if he doesn't play tomorrow and we can get through tomorrow, I think 100 percent he’ll play, barring a setback, the following weekend."
Primo has appeared in 28 games this season, making 19 starts. The 6-foot-6, 190-pound guard is averaging 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 39 percent from beyond the arc. Primo has been replaced in the starting lineup by junior college transfer Keon Ellis, who is averaging 7.67 points and 6.0 rebounds over the past three games.
