Maryland @ Michigan St. preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 21, 2019 ) Maryland 55, Michigan St 69

No. 9 Maryland goes for an eighth straight win to stay on top of the Big Ten standings when it visits No. 25 Michigan State on Saturday. The Terrapins are coming off a narrow 72-70 victory over Nebraska on Tuesday that kept them a game ahead of second-place Penn State, while the Spartans pulled out a 70-69 victory at Illinois the same night to sit alone in third, 1.5 games behind Maryland.

Senior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. leads Mark Turgeon's club in scoring (16.3 points per game) and assists (4.6) and is coming off his first double-double (13 points, 10 assists) since his sophomore season against the Cornhuskers. As good as Cowan has been, though, sophomore forward Jalen Smith has raised his game to another level in Big Ten play, pacing Maryland with 16.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest, including the game-winning rejection on Tuesday. Michigan State has a pretty good guard-big man combo as well in reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston and junior forward Xavier Tillman. Winston leads the Spartans with 18.3 points and 5.7 assists per game, while Tillman contributes 13.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per outing.

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT MARYLAND (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten): Although the Terrapins sit atop the Big Ten standings currently, they know that the Spartans are still the standard bearer for the conference and that they'll have to beat Michigan State to win the league crown. The two teams will play twice in Maryland's next five games, with the rematch set for Feb. 29 in College Park. After the two teams met last season in East Lansing, Turgeon and his players talked about being out-toughed by the physical Spartans in a 14-point loss, something the Terrapins are making a concerted effort not to have happen again this time.

ABOUT MICHIGAN STATE (17-8, 9-5): The future may be now for coach Tom Izzo, as the reinsertion into the starting lineup of freshman guard Rocket Watts paid tremendous dividends against Illinois. Watts, who came into the game averaging 7.2 points, went for a career-high 21 points against the Illini, hitting 9-of-14 from the floor and committing just one turnover in 29 minutes of action. Like many freshmen under Izzo, Watts started slow this season and has caught his share of loud constructive criticism from the Hall of Fame coach, but he's come on lately, setting his career scoring standard twice in the last four games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Junior G Darryl Morsell is a key to Maryland's success, as the Terrapins are 12-0 when he scores in double figures.

2. Michigan State ranks No. 1 in the nation in assist percentage, recording an assist on 66 percent of its field goals.

3. The Spartans lead the Big Ten in 3-point percentage defense, holding opponents to 28.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

PREDICTION: Michigan State 72, Maryland 69