Monday, November 2
College Park, MD
7 PM
Maryland
vs
Bucknell
10/31/2026 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Maryland vs. Bucknell
November 2, 2026
7:00 PM
XFINITY Center
B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland officially opens the 2026-27 campaign on Monday night as Bucknell visits the XFINITY Center for the first time in two years. Tip is set for 7 PM and the game will be streamed on B1G+. Legendary Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday will have the call on the Maryland Sports Radio Network alongside Chris Knoche and Walt Williams.
Monday night will be the first of three promotional games highlighting the 25th Anniversary of the 2002 NCAA Championship. The theme of the night will be Turn Back The Clock back to 2002! Concessions prices are thrown back to 2002 with hot dogs, pretzels, popcorn, and 16oz fountain drinks going for $2.50. This will also be the official debut of the 2002 Throwback Uniforms.
Maryland is 77-30 all-time in season openers and the Terps have won 12 straight season openers. Head Coach Buzz Williams is 16-3 in career season-openers.
The Terps are 9-0 all-time against Bucknell after a 91-67 win over the Bison at XFINITY Center on November 27, 2024 - the last time the two teams met. All nine meetings have come in College Park dating back to the start of the series in 1976-77.
Bringing The Payne
- As one of the top post players in the country, Pharrel Payne was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Payne returns for his fifth year after missing the bulk of 2025-26 due to injury. He was also named to the 2026-27 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Top-20 Preseason Watch List as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
- In his first season with Maryland last year, Payne started 10 games averaging 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds. He shot 62.4 percent from the floor (53-85) and was 71.9 percent at the free throw line (69-96). He had three double-doubles in his 10 games played including 17 points/14 rebounds at Iowa, 30 points/10 rebounds against Wagner, and 17 points/11 rebounds against Georgetown.
- Overall in his career, Payne has played in 106 overall games with 47 starts between his time at Minnesota (2022-24), Texas A&M (2024-25), and last year with the Terps (2025-26). He has averaged 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while shootings 63.8 percent from the field.
#MillsMafia ...
- After redshirting his true freshman season at Texas A&M in 2024-25, Andre Mills had a break out season for the Terps last year.
- Mills averaged 12.2 points per game with 4.1 rebounds in 33 games (25 starts). He had four 20-point games and a pair of 30-point efforts.
- Mills set his career-high with 39 points at Northwestern which tied the program record for most points by a freshman in a single game joining Diamond Stone who did the same against Penn State in 2015. He was one of four freshmen to score 30+ in a game dating back to 1994 and is just the second (along with Hall of Fame inductee Joe Smith) to have a pair of 30 point games in a freshman season.
Top-20 Incoming Class
- Overall between its freshman class and transfer class, Maryland ranks 17th overall according to 247Sports.com heading into the new season. The class is the fourth-highest ranked in the Big Ten.
- By comparison, the 2024-25 incoming group ranked No. 36 overall in the composite rankings.
- Headlined by Baba Oladotun, Maryland features the No. 14 ranked freshman class coming into the 2026-27 season according to 247Sports.com.
The Beast Enters The Hall of Fame
- Joe Smith was officially inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, October 16 becoming the 46th men's basketball alum or coach to be enshrined.
- Smith starred at Maryland from 1993–95 and became one of the greatest players in program history after arriving as a highly-touted recruit and earning Third Team Parade All-American honors in 1993. He was named Naismith College Player of the Year, Associated Press (AP) Player of the Year and the United Press International (UPI) College Player of the Year in 1995.
- Smith also earned Consensus First Team All-American honors in 1995 and was named Third Team All-American by UPI as a freshman in 1994. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 1995 and ACC Rookie of the Year in 1994.
- He finished Maryland career with 1,524 points and 815 rebounds, recording 34 double-doubles and helping lead the Terrapins to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under head coach Gary Williams.
- Selected No. 1 overall in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 1996, and played 16 NBA seasons in over 1,000 games with teams including the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, November 03
Monday, November 02
Sunday, November 01
Wednesday, October 28
