Maryland men’s basketball gave No. 2 Michigan all it could muster Saturday night. But an in-game injury and ejection, coupled with two rotation pieces being ruled out prior to tip, hurt the Terps’ chances.
Maryland ultimately fell to the Wolverines, 101-83.
Now, after a week’s worth of rest, the Terps will face another ranked opponent — this time away from home — in No. 23 Virginia.
The Cavaliers have been largely dominant this season, winning all but one game — an 80-73 loss to Butler taints their resume. But Virginia has wins over high-major opponents, including an 83-78 victory over Northwestern and a 88-69 thrashing of Texas.
Saturday’s game will begin at 6 p.m. and air on ESPN.
Virginia Cavaliers (9-1, 0-0 ACC)
2024-25 record: 15-17, 8-12 ACC
Ryan Odom is in his first year as head coach of the program after spending the last two seasons at the helm of VCU. During his tenure with the Rams, Odom’s squad went 52-21 and made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025.
Odom has plenty of experience at the head coaching level, including stints at Utah State, UMBC, Lenoir Rhyne and Charlotte. At UMBC, his team notably became the first-ever No. 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament to knock off a No. 1-seed — interestingly enough, that No. 1-seed was Virginia.
Players to watch
Thijs De Ridder, freshman forward, 6-foot-9, No. 28 — De Ridder is a freshman at 22 years old, and that’s because he’s spent the last few years playing in Europe. From 2023-25, De Ridder played for Bilbao Basket of Liga ACB, and in 2024-25, he averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Now, he’s leading the Cavaliers with 16.1 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 42.3% from downtown.
Malik Thomas, graduate student guard, 6-foot-5, No. 1 — Thomas ranks second on the team with 11.8 points per game despite shooting just 41.3% from the field. Thomas previously played at both USC and San Francisco. At the latter program in 2024-25, he was named All-WCC first team and averaged 19.9 points per game.
Chance Mallory, freshman guard, 5-foot-10, No. 2 — Despite his small stature, Mallory packs a punch. He’s averaging 11.7 points per game and has the second-most assists on the team through the first 10 games (33). Mallory is the team’s sixth man, having come off the bench in every game so far. He also has 22 steals this season — nobody else on the squad even has 10.
Strength
Three-point shooting. The Cavaliers are prolific from beyond the arc, shooting a conference-best 40% from deep range. They’re 10th in the conference in attempt rate, but have played fewer games than each of the teams ahead of them. Virginia has seven players shooting at least 40% from three.
Weakness
Free throw shooting. There’s not much that Virginia does poorly in relation to the rest of its conference, but it does rank bottom-five in the ACC in free throw percentage at 69.2%. With De Ridder shooting just 64% from the stripe, the Terps could force him to hit his shots from that mark.
Three things to watch
1. Payne’s status. Pharrel Payne was rolled up on in the first half of Saturday’s game against Michigan, and did not see the floor for the remainder of action. He was spotted on the bench in the second half, and briefly had a large wrapping around his knee. While it’s unlikely that he’ll suit up Saturday, it will be interesting to see if he is walking around less gingerly.
2. Turkson time? In his first game back from injury, George Turkson Jr. started and played 32 minutes against Michigan. He scored a season-high eight points and helped contribute on defense against some larger interior players. It will be worth noting whether he continues to see the court early and often.
3. Will the Terps be Diggy-reliant? Against Michigan, Diggy Coit was Maryland’s main source of offense — he and Myles Rice were the only Terps to score in the double digits, and Coit notched 31. In order to stay competitive against Virginia, Maryland will need to be able to get substantial contributions from multiple players, though Coit could lead the way again.
