How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins vs. Maryland Terrapins
The Bruins return home for what should be an easy game against a bad Maryland team.
After getting swept on their recent road trip, UCLA men’s basketball returns home today for a game against the Maryland Terrapins. Tip-off is slated for 5 pm PT on Fox with Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson on the call.
Today’s game is exactly what the Bruins need right now. Maryland has lost five of their last six games and seven of their last nine. Their two wins during that stretch weren’t exactly impressive ones. The first came against Wagner on December 2nd and the other came against Old Dominion on December 29th.
Last year under Kevin Williard, the Terps finished with a 27-9 record. So far under Buzz Williams, they are 7-8. So, if the Bruins win tonight, Maryland will already have matched the number of losses they had last season. Williams joined Maryland after spending the last six seasons at Texas A&M where he missed the NCAA Tournament in his first three seasons, but made it the past three. Prior to Texas A&M, he coached at both Marquette and Virginia Tech where he made the tourney in eight of eleven seasons. So, while Maryland is struggling this season, there are reasons to think they will get better moving forward.
Based on Wednesday’s game against Indiana, Williams will start a lineup with three guards and two forwards. Let’s look at the probable starting five.
Maryland Terrapins’ Starting Five
A piece of good news for UCLA entering tonight’s game is that Maryland has been missing the team’s leading scorer since mid-December when senior forward Pharell Payne went down with a wrist injury. He missed Wednesday’s game against Indiana. So, there’s a good chance he will also miss tonight’s game against UCLA. In ten games, Payne has averaged 17.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg. He continues to lead the Terps with a 62.4% shooting percentage.
If he is unable to play tonight, expect Elijah Saunders to get the start. Saunders led the team with 16 points and was tied for second with seven rebounds against Indiana on Wednesday. That game not withstanding, Saunders is usually a big dropoff from Payne. He is averaging just 8.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg including his stats from the Indiana game. While Payne hasn’t attempt a three all season, Saunders is one of the best three-point shooters on the team. His 38.6% three-point percentage is second-best on the team among players who have attempted at least eleven treys.
Senior transfer Solomon Washington will be the other starting forward. Washington followed Williams from Texas A&M to Maryland. He’s averaging 10.6 ppg and leads the Terps with an average of 9.0 rpg.
Moving to the guards, freshman Darius Adams is third on the team in scoring with an average of 12.5 ppg. He has a tendency to shoot a lot. He’s taken more shots than any other player on the team even though he’s shooting just 32.5% from the field. He’s also taken the second-most three-point shots on the team but, again, he’s missed nearly three quarters of them. In fact, 54 of his 106 missed attempts were taken beyond the arc. So, he’s terrible from long-range.
Redshirt freshman transfer Andre Mills also came with Williams from Texas A&M. He’s averaging just 8.9 ppg, though he’s third on the team in rebounds with an average of 4.7 rpg. He’s also second on the team in assists with 26 and he’s tied for second in blocks with six. He’s a little more accurate than Adams when shooting threes, but not by much. He has a 27.1% three-point percentage.
The final starter will be junior transfer Isaiah Watts, who comes to Maryland from Washington State. Watts is another terrible three-point shooter. He’s made just 28.8% from beyond the arc and he is averaging just 5.8 ppg. He is, however, tied for the team lead in steals with 13.
The first man off the bench will probably be grad transfer guard David Coit, who joins the Terps after playing at Kansas last season. Considering that Coit is second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.1 ppg, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why he isn’t starting. To be sure, he’s averaging more minutes than each of the three starting guards and he’s putting up more points than each of them as well. As if that’s not enough, he leads the Terps in assists with 43 and in three-point percentage with 40.9% and he’s also just a steal away from being tied for the team lead in that category too.
Analysis
The bottom line here is simple: the Bruins should beat a bad Maryland team at home easily.
Sure, there’s plenty of things about this year’s team to be concerned about. Beating the Terps at home with school back in session shouldn’t be one of them.
This game should be over by halftime. If it isn’t, the future of Mick Cronin in Westwood is likely to start becoming questionable very soon.
Here’s how to watch, listen and stream this evening’s game.
UCLA Men’s Basketball (10-5, 2-2)
Opponent: Maryland Terrapins (7-8, 0-4)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 7-4
When: 5:00 pm PT, Saturday, January 10, 2026
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Fox with Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson, and Allison Williams
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: KABC AM 790 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 84 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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So I was thinking about how empty Pauley has been this season, and I think part of the problem is how many of the lower bowl seats are tied up to high-level donor spots that aren’t incentivized to come to games. When I went to get my fast break tickets yesterday, I was limited to the end lines on the top deck, but there are clearly so many seats available but “sold” already. It’s a big problem that a proactive admin would be working to fix no matter what the product looks like.
Lmao this team cannot rebound to save their lives.
Also hello I’m back from Japan and in the building so expect a postgame at some point.