After an eleven-day hiatus, the Virginia Cavaliers (9-1) will retake the hardwood wearing all orange uniforms at John Paul Jones Arena this evening. This time, facing off against an old ACC rival in the Maryland
Terrapins (6-5) at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN. This will be the first time the two teams have met since November of 2018, when they met at the Xfinity Center, when the ‘Hoos claimed a 76-71 victory.
The Terps are off to a disappointing start after lofty goals were set this offseason when Buzz Williams came to College Park from College Station and brought along a handful of talent from the transfer portal. Among the eight athletes who play over 18 minutes a game, none of them were in a Maryland uniform last year.
Their leading scorer, Pharrel Payne, followed Buzz from Texas A&M along with Solomon Washington. Darius Adams and Andre Mills are true freshman. David Coit is a dangerous three point shooter who came from Kansas, Myles Rice is a highly talented guard from Washington State, and the familiar name and face of Elijah Saunders will be welcomed back to JPJ after he spent the 2024-2025 season with the ‘Hoos.
Maryland’s five losses are to solid teams, but the gripe with the Terps is that they have not been competitive in any of them, losing by 39 to Gonzaga, 33 to Alabama, 19 to Iowa, and 18 to Michigan, and allowing over 100 points in three of those games. Unfortunately for both parties, the result of these wide margins is a No. 162 NET ranking. That means this is a Quad 4 game for the ‘Hoos in part because the game is in Charlottesville.
Either way, Ryan Odom is looking for a win on Saturday, and this is what Virignia needs to do for that to happen:
Take and make the three
Virginia will have no problem taking the three, as they average almost 28 attempts per game, but they will need to convert, as Maryland is one of the worst teams in the nation at defending the three-point shot. They allow plenty of open looks from behind the arc, and opponents are averaging over ten threes per game against the Terps, which is right on par with Virginia’s average of 11.3 made threes per contest.
Guard hard, make them uncomfortable with the basketball
To Maryland, the ball has not been gold so far this season. They rank No. 282 in the nation in turnovers per game with nearly 14 per outing. Virginia will look to apply on-ball pressure and will pick up full court, looking to force turnovers and make the Terps uncomfortable with the ball.
The Virginia defense has been underwhelming as far as forcing turnovers and on-ball defending, but playing a team that is bad at limiting turnovers could help the confidence of the ‘Hoos defenders. Look for Chance Mallory to be an absolute gnat and record multiple steals.
Prediction:
Virginia 85 Maryland 72
