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Maryland (3-0) vs. #15 Marquette (3-0)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: November 15, 2024
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Venue: XFINITY Center - College Park, MD
How to Watch: FS1
Announcers: Brandon Gaudin & Bill Raftery
Matchup History: Maryland leads all-time series 1-0
Last Meeting: Maryland def. Marquette 84-63 in Orlando Invitational on 12/1/19
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Maryland -2.5
Over/Under: 146.5
Prediction: Maryland 71, Marquette 67
Official Maryland Game Notes: HERE
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Head Coach: Kevin Willard (3rd season, 41-30 record at Maryland)
Record: 3-0 (0-0, T-1st in Big Ten)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 30
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2023
Last Time Out: Won vs. Florida A&M 84-53 on 11/11/24
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Rodney Rice
Maryland’s first legitimate test comes to a head on Friday night as the Terrapins host #15 ranked Marquette at XFINITY Center in College Park.
Head Coach Kevin Willard enters his third season leading the Maryland program after coming over from Seton Hall, where he of course regularly went head-to-head with the Golden Eagles.
In its first three games, the Terps average margin of victory has been just under 32 points per game, taking out Manhattan, Mount St. Mary’s, and Florida A&M to start the year.
Through three games, albeit against much lower competition than what is to come, the Terrapins have looked great, scoring over 80 points per game and flexing their depth along the way.
In fact, through the opening three games, nobody on the team is averaging more than 24 minutes per game, with ten different players averaging 10 minutes or more per contest.
For Willard, this is crucial. Last season, the team, particularly offensively, was heavily reliant on its top two players Jahmir Young and Julian Reese. This season, they’ll need different cooks in the kitchen every night in order to have consistent success.
So far, the top chef for Willard has been Virginia Tech transfer Rodney Rice.
In three games, the 6’4” sophomore is averaging nearly 17 points per game, thanks in large part to an explosive 28 point performance in the 86-52 win over Mount St. Mary’s.
On Friday night, there’s a good chance his greater responsibility will fall on the defensive side in guarding Marquette’s top scorer, Kam Jones, who is one of the more prolific guards in the country.
The Terrapins play Villanova on a neutral floor on November 24, but this game on Friday night in College Park is undoubtedly the teams most important non-conference game.
If Willard and the Terps can pull of the win and knock off the #15 ranked team at home to move to 4-0, year three of his tenure at Maryland will be off and running.
I expect an extremely raucous crowd in the Spring Break Capital of the Northeast on Friday night to try and pull Maryland across the line for what would be a monster win.
Head Coach: Shaka Smart (4th season, 78-30 record at Marquette)
Record: 3-0 (0-0, T-1st in Big East)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 35
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024
Last Time Out: Won vs. Central Michigan 70-62 on 11/11/24
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Kam Jones
What an extraordinary turnaround it’s been for Marquette under fourth-year Head Coach Shaka Smart.
In 2020-21, the year before Smart took over, Marquette went 13-14 under Steve Wojciechowski and 8-11 in the Big East.
In his first three seasons at MU, Smart has led the Golden Eagles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, something the program hadn’t done since it went to eight straight from 2005-2013.
The last two years, Marquette was a 2-seed in the Big Dance, winning 27 games or more each of the last two seasons. However, during that span of tremendous regular season success and a Big East regular season and tournament title in 2023, the Golden Eagles have otherwise floundered in the postseason.
Under Smart, Marquette is 3-3 in the NCAA Tournament, appearing as a 2-seed twice and a 9-seed in his first year, failing to advance past the Sweet 16.
Entering year four now, the Golden Eagles’ expectations are seemingly a bit lower than the last year or two, but are still expected to be formidable in perhaps the country’s best conference, the Big East.
Leading the way for MU is undoubtedly Kam Jones. A senior guard out of Memphis, TN, Jones has established himself as one of the better scoring guards in the nation, averaging over 15 PPG over each of the past two seasons.
This year, with star point guard Tyler Kolek no longer on the roster, a heavier offensive burden is expected to fall on the lefty, and he has so far delivered, averaging nearly 23 PPG through three games, including a 32 point outburst in MU’s 40 point win over Stony Brook.
For Marquette to not only win on Friday night in College Park, but sustain success throughout the season, Jones has to lead the way offensively.
Smart and the Golden Eagles are likely to lean heavily on its star player throughout Friday night’s game, but expect additional output from David Joplin and Chase Ross, who, like Jones, are already averaging over 31 minutes per game.
The ranked Golden Eagles are underdogs on Friday night against Maryland. But if they can shoot the three at a better clip (29% through three games), get more production from the bench, and continue to rack up steals (T-5th nationally at 14 per game), then they’ll have a legitimate chance to get out of College Park with a huge win and move to 4-0.