COLLEGE PARK — Will Xfinity Center finally mark the spot for nationally-ranked Maryland?
After attracting sparse crowds for nonconference games and not selling out for last month's ACC-Big Ten matchup against longtime rival Virginia, Michigan State's first appearance here in the Big Ten could get the biggest crowd of the season.
A Maryland athletic department spokesman said Friday night that a sellout of 17,950 is expected.
Despite being ranked for more than a month, the No. 14 Terps have not exactly been must-see-in-person college basketball for local fans. While it certainly got loud for Wednesday's 73-65 victory over Rutgers, the matchup of the two new Big Ten teams drew 12,419 – well under capacity.
The game against the Spartans, who the Terps beat in double overtime Dec. 30 in East Lansing, should certainly draw closer to a sellout. The Maryland students have been on winter break since the middle of December and do not go back to class until Jan. 26.
Despite falling well shy of a sellout, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said Friday: "The crowd was terrific. The crowd got so into the game. I don't think we could have won the game if it had been a December crowd. It was a Big Ten crowd and it helped pull us through."
Freshman point guard Melo Trimble admitted that even the crowd at Rutgers made him a little nervous coming out, which might have contributed to the Terps falling behind 8-0 at the start. (It wouldn't answer why Maryland also started the second half by giving up 11 straight points to lose a seven-point lead.)
"I felt that once they got their energy up we got our energy up, especially on the offensive end," Trimble said. "We were kind of sluggish on offense, we went't really running, especially on offense. Once we finally scored [in the first half] and the crowd started getting in it, we started playing basketball."
Trimble said the team was "lackadailsical" coming out in both halves Wednesday. The Terps have been better – and more successful – on the road in the conference this season. "It's more us against everyone else," Trimble said after the Rutgers game.