Maryland Terrapins first-year coach Buzz Williams (5-1) had a classic quote regarding the upcoming matchup with the Gonzaga Bulldogs (6-0) after their 74-67 win in the Players Era Festival nightcap of Day 1 against the nearby UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in Las Vegas. His group will need to tighten everything up offensively after turning the ball over 20 times yesterday when going up against arguably the most well-polished defensive group from top-to-bottom in college basketball.
“[Gonzaga will] score 100 in the first half if we turn it over 15 times in the first half.” – Maryland Terrapins coach Buzz Williams on Gonzaga
Those in the Pacific Northwest are fairly familiar with a pair of Washington State Cougars transfers in redshirt junior guard Myles Rice (13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals per game) and junior guard Isaiah Watts (6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 steals per game). The pair has helped bring stability to William’s backcourt at College Park, Maryland, when coming off the bench.
Senior forward/center Pharrel Payne will be the biggest challenge for the dynamic Gonzaga bigs with fifth-year forward Graham Ike and redshirt junior forward Braden Huff to this point in Las Vegas. At 6-9, he’s been automatic five to ten feet out of the rim, finishing 74.4 percent of his looks from the field. He’s averaging both a team-leading 18.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Terrapins.
The Zags still can’t be riding the high of last night’s 95-85 victory against the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide and have to lock back in. Gonzaga is currently No. 4 in the Players Era standings (+10, 95 points), so they need another dominant performance on both sides of the floor if they want to play in the title game on Wednesday night.
Maryland graduate student guard David Coit
2025-26 season averages: 17.2 points on 42.9 field goal percentage/47.8 three-point percentage/91.3 free throw percentage, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals per game
The undersized 5-11 leader can explode offensively at any given time. Against the Mount Saint Mary Mountaineers back on Nov. 19, he finished with 41 points on 8-for-10 three-pointers and a perfect 11-for-11 at the charity stripe.
Tyon Grant-Foster cutting out the bad looks from the field
During the postgame media availability after the win over Alabama, Gonzaga coach Mark Few called graduate student wing Tyon Grant-Foster’s shot selection “moronic” at times. He needs to stop forcing up tough fadeaway looks when he gets trapped on the baseline or when double-teams are thrown his way and kick it back out, reset the offense. Grant-Foster has the second-lowest three-point percentage at 17.6 on the team.
Mario Saint-Supery taking further control of the offense, eliminating the turnovers
Few also mentioned that freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery needs to decrease some “crazy ass jump passes” going forward. He had three turnovers versus the Crimson Tide and could be seen forcing outlets into tight windows at times.
Finding consistency from the three-point mark, building off Steele Venters’ breakout performance
It’s been rough going for the Zags when trying to hit from beyond the arc. On the season, this group is shooting just 32.8 percent. Graduate student wing Steele Venters stepped up in that department after going 4-for-8 on three-pointers against Alabama. Let’s see if the Saint-Supery in the first unit, as well as redshirt junior guard Braeden Smith in the second unit, can find him out on the perimeter and continue his hot streak.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Gonzaga is the favorite over Maryland by 13.5 points. Moneyline is set for the Zags at an astonishing -1450 and +810 for the Terrapins. The over/under is set at 154.5.
Game time is set for Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 6:30 p.m. PT on truTV inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
