Maryland’s slow Big Ten start is in the past. Now the 18th-ranked Terps are rolling

Kevin Willard didn’t panic when Maryland stumbled early in the Big Ten schedule. He just wanted his Terrapins to be in solid position as the calendar turned to February.

They’re right on time.

Now Maryland has its first AP Top 25 ranking in nearly two years entering Thursday’s trip to Ohio State and Sunday’s home game against Rutgers. The 18th-ranked Terps have won four straight and six of seven to dig out of a 1-3 start to league play, which included two Pacific Northwest losses at the western reaches of the Big Ten’s expanded footprint.

“They could’ve let a lot of negativity affect them,” Willard said after Wednesday’s win against then-No. 17 Wisconsin. “Their attitude has been just phenomenal. I think that’s the biggest thing, is that they’ve been really resilient through out the first part of this conference schedule.”

Maryland (17-5, 7-4) has been steady at both ends of the court. As of Monday, KenPom ranked the Terps as one of nine teams nationally to rank in the top 25 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, with Maryland averaging 119.0 points per 100 possessions (21st) and allowing 95.1 (23rd) at the other end.

They also rank second in KenPom by blocking 5.4% of opponents’ 2-point shots and third by tallying steals on 6.9% of opponents’ possessions.

The most impressive win of the current run was a 91-70 win at then-No. 17 Illinois on Jan. 23, with the Terrapins scoring 53 second-half points and finishing with their best road output against a ranked team since January 2002 — a season that ended with the program winning the NCAA title.

The current run has Maryland in the poll for the first time since spending a week at No. 21 in late February 2023. And it’s all part of a focus that forward Julian Reese described as “just trying to play our best brand of basketball” after the Wisconsin win.

“I think the biggest thing was just getting through January,” Willard said. “I knew January was going to be hard with the (cross-country travel). I think the biggest thing is we’re getting a nice week here, a bye week, and just getting these guys refreshed mentally going into … what you want to be a fun February.”

Duke’s travels

Second-ranked Duke has faced little challenge so far in rolling to an unbeaten Atlantic Coast Conference record. The Blue Devils’ biggest obstacle to becoming the first ACC team to go unbeaten in league play since 1999 could come this week on the road.

Duke (19-2, 11-0) visits Syracuse (10-12, 4-7) on Wednesday before traveling to Clemson (18-4, 10-1), which enters the week having won six straight and nine of 10.

The Blue Devils have the nation’s longest active win streak at 15 games and have a chance to become the first team to go 20-0 in ACC regular-season play. The last team to go unbeaten in the league was Duke in 1998-99 at 16-0.

Red Storm churning

No. 12 St. John’s earned its highest ranking Monday since finishing at No. 9 during the 1999-2000 season. Rick Pitino’s Red Storm won’t have an easy week keeping it.

St. John’s (19-3, 10-1 Big East) hosts No. 11 Marquette on Tuesday and then travels Friday to No. 19 UConn, the two-time reigning national champion.

SEC tests

The Southeastern Conference is offering a constant stream of ranked-vs-ranked matchups this year with at least nine of its teams in the poll for seven straight weeks.

The biggest comes Saturday with No. 1 Auburn hosting No. 6 Florida, while No. 15 Missouri gets a pair of tests at No. 4 Tennessee (Wednesday) and at home against No. 10 Texas A&M (Saturday).

Rankings variations

The AP Top 25, KenPom, Bart Torvik, Evan Miyakawa and NET rankings are largely in agreement on Auburn and Duke, which are the only two schools that rank in the top three of each ranking set.

That group also agrees on Alabama, Tennessee, Houston, Florida and Iowa State as top-10 teams. Purdue is close, missing the top 10 only for Miyakawa (11th).

The biggest differences for the top tier come with AP No. 9 Michigan State, No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 13 Texas Tech. None of the other rankings have the Spartans or Aggies in the top 10, while the Red Raiders are ranked ninth or better in each of the other rankings.

Watch list

Clemson finished just two points back of No. 25 Ole Miss and would be essentially a lock to crack the poll with wins against Georgia Tech on Tuesday followed by Duke this weekend.

Saint Mary’s (20-3, 10-0 West Coast Conference) is in firm control of its league race. The Gaels have won 10 straight entering Thursday’s trip to San Francisco and Saturday’s game at Oregon State.

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