Maryland vs. Notre Dame: 2019-20 Big Ten/ACC Challenge game preview, TV schedule

Maryland and Notre Dame face off in College Park in the Big Ten vs. ACC Challenge for the first time since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten.

Who: 3. Maryland Terrapins (8-0) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-1)

When: Wednesday, December 4th at 7:30 PM ET

Where: XFinity Center in College Park, MD

TV Schedule: ESPN

The Maryland Terrapins head home to College Park after winning the Orlando Invitational to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The Terrapins are coming off of their best win of the year, a monster 21-pt victory over sharpshooter Markus Howard and Marquette. The Terps finally got off to a hot start in a game, against their toughest opponent yet, and will look to keep the momentum going and stay undefeated in a showdown against the visiting Irish.

Notre Dame comes into this game having won six in a row, after having dropped their first game of the year at then 9th ranked North Carolina. The Irish rebounded from their opening loss with a solid string of victories at home. Notre Dame will get back on the road to face the Terrapins in what will be a very tough test for the Irish following a homestand against lesser opponents.

Maryland is lead this year by senior guard Anthony Cowan, who was just named MVP of the Orlando Invitational after averaging 24 ppg and 4.5 apg in the tournament. Cowan is joined by a very deep Terrapins team including big man Jalen “Stix” Smith, sharpshooter Aaron Wiggins (no, not Anthony), and defensive stud Darryl Morsell. Though they frequently started slow to begin the season, the Terps may be finally starting to find their groove which will be dangerous for Notre Dame, and everyone else Maryland faces this year.

The Irish are lead by a pair of seniors, John Mooney and Temple Gibbs. Notre Dame is a deep and experienced team, typically going 8-9 deep on their bench with four seniors playing meaningful minutes. The Irish are very disciplined as a team, they don’t take care of the ball (10th in the nation in turnovers) and don’t commit a lot of fouls (8th in the nation). The Irish will need all of that discipline and experience to beat the long and talented Terrapins.

Both teams come into this game struggling to hit from deep, with both currently averaging 31.6% from three.  Notre Dame has struggled offensively the whole year, only shooting 49.2% (211th in the nation) on the year. They got hot recently though, shooting 50.8% from the floor in their most recent win over Farleigh Dickinson. For the Terps, their struggles from deep have not extended to inside the line, where they are shooting a solid 53.8% (80th in the nation). Maryland has a plethora of inside scorers and has been able to make up for their poor outside shooting with a lot of buckets inside, often in transition.

One key matchup to watch will between the bigs, John Mooney and Stix Smith. Both players have the ability to score down-low and stretch the floor. Both are also solid rebounders, with each totaling four double-doubles this year. Stix is longer and a better defender than Mooney (2.0 bpg) and will try to use that length to win the battle down-low. Mooney will need to use his more solid frame (245 lbs.) to overpower the skinnier Stix, who got his nickname for a reason, in the paint.

Both teams come into this game hot and riding solid win streaks. The Terrapins are more talented and have better wins on the year, but will still need to start strong and stay hot shooting to defeat the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will need to bring their A-game to get the win in their second road game this year against a top-10 opponent.

Final Prediction: Maryland – 82, Notre Dame – 69