Maryland will begin its second season on Thursday against Wisconsin in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Terrapins finished the season 19-12, 8-10 in the Big Ten, landing the No. 8 seed for the tournament. The Terrapins and Badgers will start Day 2 (Thursday March 1) of the Big Ten tourney with a noon tip.
The Big Ten Tournament will be played at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time ever. The move to the Big Apple is an effort to connect with the conference’s large alumni base in the northeast as well as accommodate fellow newcomer Rutgers. Because the Madison Square Garden is the traditional host of the Big East Tournament, the Big Ten moved their tournament up one week to avoid conflict.
The 2018 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament bracket. #B1GTourney #B1GAtMSG https://t.co/WFt92GSRWw pic.twitter.com/z4vQN1Lfpx
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 26, 2018
The winner of the Maryland-Wisconsin game will face No. 1 seed Michigan State, who clinched the regular season title after running off 12 straight wins.
The Terrapins defeated the Badgers in their lone contest during the regular season. Anthony Cowan scored a game-high 23 points and Kevin Huerter added 19 to led Maryland to the 68-63 win on Feb. 4 in College Park.
Maryland is coming off a disappointing 24-point loss to Michigan to close out the regular season on Saturday.
Cowan leads the team with 15.7 points and 5.2 assists per game. Huerter is second with 14.6 points. Freshman forward Bruno Fernando adds 10.2 points per game and 6.4 rebounds — tops among active Terrapins.
The 8-seed is the Terrapins’ lowest seeding since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014-15. Maryland has an all-time record of 2-3 in the Big Ten Tournament with two appearances into the semifinals.
Last season, Maryland’s stay during the weekend was short, as they were upset in their first contest by Northwestern in the Quarterfinals in Washington, D.C.
