Maryland will look to continue staking their claim as one of the Big Ten’s best teams as they hit the road to take on a desperate Seton Hall squad.
Entering the season, expectations were high for both Maryland and Seton Hall, who were tabbed by experts to be battling for supremacy in their respective conferences. That script has held for Maryland, which is 10-1 and one of the Big Ten’s best, while Seton Hall is only 6-4 and injury-riddled.
The Terrapins have a balanced offensive attack featuring four scorers who average double-digit scoring every night, but the key to everything is guard Anthony Cowan Jr. The senior leads the team in scoring (16.3 point per game) and assists (4.3 a night), and he has gotten a nice assist from sophomore forward Jalen Smith, who leads the team in rebounding (10.2 per game) and scored 13.5 points per game to average a double-double for Maryland.
The Terrapins were 10-0 before losing at Penn State their last time out, and they will have a good opportunity to get on track against Seton Hall, which is extremely banged up right now. The Pirates were already down starting forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who could be out up to two months after fracturing his right wrist in a loss to Iowa State, and now they are staring at an extended absence for Myles Powell, their leading scorer.
Powell, who paces the Pirates’ offense with 21.2 points per game, is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion in Seton Hall’s last game, a shocking blowout loss at Rutgers where the Pirates were essentially run out of the gym. That is a devastating blow for the Pirates, who were lauded for their depth at the start of the season but are now without their top two scorers for a while.
Seton Hall is also in need of a win in the worst way, dropping two straight games and off to just a 6-4 start, which is very disappointing for a team that was considered a potential top-10 squad at the start of the year. This game is one of the last non-conference tuneups for both teams, so picking up a win could lead to some significant momentum as we enter the new year.
How to watch Maryland at Seton Hall
Date: Thursday, Dec. 19
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Newark, NJ
Venue: Prudential Center
TV: Fox Sports 1
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Odds: Maryland -5 (The Action Network)
Prediction: Maryland