Penn St. @ Maryland preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 7, 2017 ) Maryland 64, Penn St. 70

Maryland will be searching for contributors along the front line and trying to avoid looking too far ahead when it returns to Big Ten play against visiting Penn State on Tuesday. The Terrapins, who visit No. 2 Michigan State on Thursday, have lost two power forwards for the season in recent days, first seeing top rebounder Justin Jackson go out with a torn labrum and then watching his replacement - junior Ivan Bender - suffer a torn meniscus in his right knee.

"Ivan has been playing some of his best basketball over the past month," coach Mark Turgeon said in a news release Sunday. "He has developed into a strong contributor for our team and we are going to miss his leadership and presence on the court." Maryland recovered from a poor first half to defeat UMBC 66-45 on Friday as sophomore Kevin Huerter scored 20 points to lift his team to its sixth consecutive win. The Nittany Lions were stunned by Rider on a buzzer-beater at home before Christmas and took out their frustrations on Coppin State on Saturday. Tony Carr scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half in the 88-43 win for Penn State, which knocked off Maryland 70-64 at home in the previous meeting on Feb. 7.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT PENN STATE (11-4, 1-1 Big Ten): Carr rebounded from a rocky shooting effort in the loss to Rider to hit 7-of-9 shots in Saturday's win, including a 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc that left him at 52.8 percent on 3-pointers. "It felt great," he told reporters. "Just to get that bad taste out of our mouth and get a win and go on the road and hopefully get a big road win." Lamar Stevens, who ranks second behind Carr (18.9) in scoring at 14.1, scored 25 points in last season's win over the Terrapins.

ABOUT MARYLAND (12-3, 1-1): Sophomore Anthony Cowan leads the Terrapins in scoring (15.5) but is shooting 17-for-53 from the floor over his last five games, including 4-for-13 against UMBC. Huerter is trending in the other direction and has shot better than 50 percent in seven of his last eight games, during which he is at 53.7 percent from beyond the arc. Redshirt freshman Joshua Tomaic, who had 16 points and 14 rebounds in 33 minutes over two games earlier this month, could fill the void left behind by Jackson and Bender's injuries.

TIP-INS

1. Cowan missed all five of his shot attempts in 23 minutes of the loss to Penn State last season.

2. Nittany Lions F Mike Watkins entered the New Year ranked second in the Big Ten in blocks (3.5) and field-goal percentage (67.0)

3. Terrapins freshman G Darryl Morsell is averaging 8.8 points on the season but 13 over his last four games.

PREDICTION: Maryland 77, Penn State 71