#9 West Virginia (19-14)
vs.
#8 Maryland (21-12)
NCAA Tournament - First Round
March 16, 2023
Legacy Arena
12:15 pm ET (11:15 am CT)
COLLEGE PARK, MD -Â No. 8 seed Maryland will make its 30th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday as the Terps face No. 9 seed West Virginia in the first round. The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 1 seed Alabama and either Texas A&M Corpus Cristi/Southeast Missouri.
The game will be televised on CBS starting at 12:15 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m. CT), while fans can also listen to the Maryland Sports Network (105.7 FM - Baltimore, The TEAM 980 AM - Washington, D.C., Sirius XM 201, One Maryland App) with Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday (play-by-play) and Chris Knoche (analyst) calling the action.
Maryland has a 43-28 record in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps have reached the Sweet Sixteen 14 times, the Elite Eight four times, the Final Four twice, and won the NCAA National Championship title in 2002. Most recently, Maryland defeated Connecticut in the 2021 East Regional first round before falling to Alabama. The Terrapins have won 14 of their last 15 opening round games dating back to 1997.
 The NCAA Tournament bid marks Maryland's sixth appearance in the last seven applicable years. It would be the seventh appearance in eight years if the 2020 tournament had not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Â
Kevin Willard becomes the first coach in Maryland history to lead his squad to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at the helm.
Maryland enters the tournament at No. 31 in the current NCAA NET rankings with three Quad 1 wins and six Quad 2 wins. The Terps currently have the third-best NET rating in the Big Ten. After the loss against Indiana, Maryland is now 5-2 against Big Ten teams ranked in the AP Top 25 as well.
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Series History - WEST VIRGINIA
- West Virginia leads the all-time series with its border rival Maryland, 24-14, with the Mountaineers winning the last three games.Â
- This is the third meeting between the teams in the NCAA Tournament, with WVU winning in 2015 and the Terps winning in 1984 -- a game also played in Birmingham.Â
- West Virginia won the last meeting, 69-59, in Columbus, Ohio in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Third Round on March 23, 2015. Melo Trimble led the Terps with 15 points.Â
- Prior to that game, the last time the teams met was on Dec. 7, 2003 in the BB&T Classic at the now Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., as West Virginia beat Maryland in a thriller, 78-77, in overtime. Jamar Smith led the Terps with 23 points and 13 rebounds.Â
- Maryland's last win over West Virginia was a 101-91 win in College Park on Dec. 7, 1991. Maryland Hall of Famer Walt Williams scored a game-high 31 points -- the most points ever scored by a Terp vs. the Mountaineers in the 38 meetings.Â
- The 1985 meeting, saw the Terps squeak out a 42-41 win at the WVU Coliseum as Len Bias led all scorers with 16 points, he was the only player in the game to score in double-figures.Â
- Maryland's most-dominate performance in the series was a 102-77 win in Birmingham at the same Legacy Arena -- then known as the Birmingham-Jefferson Coliseum -- in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on March 18, 1984. Ben Coleman led five Terps in double-figures with 19 points, as he shot 8-of-9 from the floor. Len Bias had 18 for the Terps. Maryland shot 67 percent from the floor (36-of-54) to set a school record in NCAA Tournament play. The 102 points are a Maryland record for points in an NCAA Tournament game.Â
- Prior to that, the teams had not played since 1971, when West Virginia pulled out an 83-81 win at Cole Field House. Under coach Lefty Driesell, Maryland was led by Barry Yates, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds.Â
- In the 1968 game, Will Hetzel set a then-Maryland record with 24 rebounds in aÂ
- The teams played every season from 1963-1971. During that time, future Maryland head coach Gary Williams played against the Mountaineers six times, splitting the games, 3-3. He had 11 assists in a 76-74 WVU win on Dec. 21, 1965.Â
- The first meeting came on Feb. 12, 1926 at The Gymnasium at Maryland, a 25-15 Terrapins win.
Fear the jahmir
- Jahmir Young is one of 10Â active players in the NCAA to post 1,900 career points, 600 rebounds, and 350 assists.
- Entering the season, many questioned Jahmir Young's ability to translate his scoring from C-USA to Power 5 play.
- Young's response has been a team-best 16.1 points and 3.2 assists per game. This season, he has a eight 20-point games including a season-high 30 against No. 24 Ohio State. In Big Ten play, Young was magnificent averaging 17.7 points. He is also the third-leading rebounder (4.7) overall, leads the team in steals (42) and has the fourth-most blocked shots (13) on the team.
- Young is the nation's 12th-ranked active career scorer with at 16.5 point per game average and the 32nd ranked player in overall points (1,952).
- Young posted his first double-double (7th of his career) as a Terp with 30 points and 11 rebounds against No. 24 Ohio State. He became the first Maryland guard since Greivis Vasquez to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game. Vasquez had a triple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against North Carolina on Feb. 21, 2009.
- At 17.7 points in league play, Young ranked seventh among all Big Ten players in scoring for league games. His 30 steals also ranked fourth in Big Ten games.
- In the win over Nebraska, he became one of two Big Ten players to post at least 18 points, 7 assists, and 6 steals in a game since 2002-03 joining Northwestern's Chase Audige who did so this January as well.
Best Defense In 40 Years
- Allowing just 63.2Â points per game, Maryland has put together one of its best defensive seasons in over 40 years during Kevin Willard's first year at the helm.Â
- The last season to give up fewer than 63 points per game was 1981-82 (58.8 ppg) - a year before the ACC used the three-point line and three before the shot clock was adopted in 1985-86.
Scott CONTINUES RECORD BOOK CLIMB
- Donta Scott became the 59th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in the win over Miami. He scored 24 points in that game and now has 1,306 career points. He is also the 17th Terp to post 1,200 points and 600 rebounds in a career. Through 127 career games he now has 689 rebounds.
- Darryl Morsell (1,090 points / 510 rebounds / 2018-21) and Anthony Cowan (1,881 points / 508 rebounds / 2017-20) were the most recent Terps to post 1,000/500.
- Scott is now 29th all-time in scoring and needs 10 points to move past Evers Burns (1315, 1989-93) for 28th. He needs 16 more boards to pass Johnny Rhodes (704, 1967-70) for No. 15 all-time.
- Scott was one of 20 players named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Watch List as announced by the Basketball Hall of Fame in late October.
- This is Scott's second year on the watch list after also garnering the honor last season. He joins Jalen Smith (2019-20) and Jake Layman (2014-15) as Terps to be recognized.
- Scott ranked as the No. 49 overall player nationally last season.
Winning numbers
- When Maryland wins, the Terps are averaging 77.2 points while allowing just 59.6 per game. Maryland is also averaging 16.2 made free throws and holds a +5.0 advantage in rebounds.Â
- The Terps are holding opponents to just .409 from the field and .310 from beyond the arc this season in wins.
- Maryland is 19-2 this season when leading at halftime (the Ohio State victory snapped a 14-game losing skid when trailing at the half) and 17-4 when committing fewer turnovers (turnovers were equal against Ohio State). The Terps have also won 21 of the last 23 games when leading with 5:00 remaining.
Hart of the Terps
- Hakim Hart is closing out his senior campaign with some of his best numbers. The guard is averaging a career-best 11.5 points while averaging 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
- Hart is the third-leading scorer for the Terps this season highlighted by four 20-point games including 23 against Penn State and 20 in the win over Minnesota.
- Entering the West Virginia game, Hart needs 56 points to reach 1,000 for his career - which would make him the fourth player on the team to reach that plateau for his career.
- Over the last nine games, Hart has turned in some of his best three point shooting of the year hitting 17-of-39 from deep (.436) while going 40-of-85 (.471) from the field overall.Â
- Over the last 14 games (dating back to Jan. 25 against Wisconsin), Hart has been averaging 3.6 assists as well including eight against the Badgers, six against Minnesota at home, and seven against Northwestern.
Click here for this week's game notes.
