Maryland @ Penn St. preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2018 ) Penn St. 59, Maryland 66

Anthony Cowan Jr. has stepped up his game in the last two outings and Maryland has followed suit, winning both to vault into fourth place in the ultra-competitive Big Ten Conference. The 20th-ranked Terrapins look to strengthen their hold on a potential double bye in the conference tournament on Wednesday when they visit Penn State in their last road game of the regular season.

Fresh off a 17-point, season-best eight-assist performance in Maryland's 66-65 win over Iowa, Cowan upped the ante with a game-high 19 points in Saturday's 72-62 win over Ohio State. The junior guard, who made a trio of 3-pointers versus the Buckeyes, drained a pair from beyond the arc in the final two-plus minutes of the Terrapins' 66-59 victory over the Nittany Lions in the teams' conference opener on Dec. 1. While that triumph ignited a 10-2 stretch for Maryland, Penn State lost its next nine conference games before eventually righting the ship by winning four of its last six Big Ten contests. Junior forward Lamar Stevens scored 25 points in Saturday's 83-76 victory at Illinois and is 19-for-30 from the field in his last two games.

TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT MARYLAND (21-7, 12-5 Big Ten): Sophomore forward Bruno Fernando recorded his ninth double-double in his last 10 games and 18th of the season on Saturday by scoring all 14 of his points in the second half to go along with 10 rebounds. Fernando had 12 points and 13 boards in the first meeting with Penn State while freshman forward Jalen Smith had a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds, although the latter has totaled just 17 points on 7-for-19 shooting from the field in his last three games. Freshman guard Serrel Smith Jr. picked up the slack on Saturday, scoring a season-high 14 points to match his sum total from his previous five contests.

ABOUT PENN STATE (11-16, 4-12): Stevens led the Nittany Lions with 19 points in the last encounter with Maryland, although he reached that total while hoisting up 24 shots from the field. Senior Josh Reaves scored all 17 of his points in the first half of that contest while fellow guard Rasir Bolton added 15, but the latter shot just 2-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-3 from 3-point range in the win over the Illini. Senior forward Mike Watkins scored 10 points for the second straight game on Saturday and added 12 rebounds to notch his 26th career double-double, although he was held without a point in the first meeting with Maryland.

TIP-INS

1. Maryland G Aaron Wiggins is 11-for-24 from the field in his last three games.

2. Penn State is bidding for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

3. All seven games in the series have been decided by seven points or fewer since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten.

PREDICTION: Maryland 68, Penn State 61