Big Ten Tournament first round preview: Maryland men’s basketball vs. Oregon
With one of many longest common seasons within the historical past of Maryland men’s basketball wrapped up, the Terps have an extremely quick time to shake all of it off.
The clock ran out on the Terps’ 78-72 loss to No. 11 Illinois at 5:24 pm on Sunday. Its subsequent sport comes at 5:00 pm on Tuesday.
The loss to the Illini assured Maryland the No. 17 seed within the Big Ten — now, it has to play No. 16-seed Oregon.
The males will look to keep away from the identical destiny the ladies’s workforce confronted when assembly the Ducks of their first Big Ten match sport. The stakes are decidedly decrease on this matchup, although.
The Terps and the Ducks will play their first-round contest in Chicago, with the sport accessible to stream on Peacock.
Oregon (12-19, 5-15 Big Ten) was Maryland’s first problem of 2026 and the start of the primary convention slate. The Terps didn’t clear the opening hurdle in a disheartening 64-54 residence loss. Maryland was simply three video games faraway from dropping Pharrel Payne for the second time — consequently, it had but to determine learn how to play.
The Terps have been nonetheless attempting to outshoot their opponents at this level — 35 of Maryland’s 65 shot makes an attempt have been from 3-point vary, and Maryland solely made seven of these deep heaves.
Andre Mills additionally hadn’t emerged as the person of the second for Maryland. He went simply 1-of-10 from the ground in 26 minutes of play, ending with 4 factors. The remainder of the guards weren’t significantly better — Darius Adams, Isaiah Watts and Diggy Coit mixed to go 9-of-32.
Watts was the one guard to crack double digits, however Solomon Washington led all scorers with 17 factors over a marathon 38 minutes. He added 12 rebounds to notch his second straight double-double, providing a glimpse on the consistency he went on to offer in Maryland’s lineup.
Oregon, in the meantime, crusaded by means of the Terps’ frontcourt. Center Nate Bittle and ahead Kwame Evans Jr., who respectively stood at 7 toes and 6-foot-10, mixed for 28 factors as a devastating one-two inside punch. Bittle even sank a uncommon 3-pointer.
Guard Takai Simpkins added 16 factors, seven rebounds and 4 assists because the Ducks held on by means of the second half. After taking the benefit 5 minutes into the sport, Oregon by no means trailed, whilst Maryland whittled the lead all the way down to a basket a number of occasions.
That loss kicked off the worst stretch of Maryland’s season. It misplaced eight of 9 video games to start 2026, with the solar brilliant spot being the victory Coit engineered over Penn State.
Maryland closed that stretch setting historical past for all of the mistaken causes, with a 91-48 thrashing by Michigan State this system’s greatest loss in 81 years and a 93-63 loss towards Purdue the worst residence lack of the century.
But since then, the Terps have discovered a spark. Wins in three of 5 video games by means of the center of February impressed hope that the workforce may rally out of the cellar, however 4 straight defeats to finish the season has sunk them.
Meanwhile, Oregon did one worse — it misplaced 10 consecutive video games from Jan. 5 to Feb. 14, when it received its personal flip to beat up Penn State. Oregon adopted up that 83-72 victory by scoring simply 44 factors towards Minnesota, although, highlighting an inconsistency similar to Maryland.
The Ducks’ personal 3-in-5 streak got here within the residence stretch, the place they scrapped out wins towards USC, Wisconsin and Washington. The victory towards the Huskies within the ultimate regular-season sport on March 7 was a dramatic one — Evans scored 9 factors within the ultimate 11 seconds of the sport to win it for Oregon.
1. Is Darius Adams again? For the first time since 2025, Adams didn’t begin for Maryland. His absence was seemingly simply to get all of the seniors within the beginning 5, however it was a transfer that would have been brewing for a while earlier than that. Adams has seemed off in latest months — his aggressive drives to the rim hadn’t paid off, and his type on the bounce shot seemed off.
But then, Adams completed with 14 factors on 6-of-12 taking pictures towards Illinois, his highest tally in a sport since Feb. 1. The pictures he took have been confidence-builders, too — the freshman had no issues taking over his defenders and making fadeaway jumpers. Maryland’s latest success has been despite Adams’ decline; if he can return to being productive, it might give the Terps an additional dimension.
2. How do the Terps defend the paint? Bittle and Evans pressured Maryland into fielding some uncommon lineups, placing Metcalf and George Turkson Jr. collectively and even including Washington at occasions. Maryland struggled to defend the rim towards Illinois — 42 of the 78 factors the Terps allowed have been within the paint — and Oregon fields comparable personnel.
3. Iowa up subsequent… perhaps? The winner of this sport will tackle No. 9-seed Iowa within the second round. That sport will tip off at midday EST on March 11, giving the winner an estimated 16-17 hours of relaxation.
