Washington Huskies vs. Maryland Terrapins Picks and Prediction for Saturday, February 21 2026
Use Code WWWC In these days of realignment, you get these unusual matchups of East vs. West, which is what we'll have in this Washington vs. Maryland prediction. These teams will meet on Saturday afternoon at College Park at 3 PM ET. Washington (13-13, 5-10 B10) is coming off a home win over Minnesota last Saturday to break a three-game losing streak. Maryland (10-16, 3-12 B10) has lost two straight to Rutgers and Northwestern, both on the road. These teams met once last season from Seattle, with the Huskies winning 75-69 at home as a 6.0-point underdog. Check out more free College Basketball predictions and NBA picks from Winners and Whiners.
Huskies still adjusting to Big 10
Most of these moves were made based on TV money and football moves. Washington had some success in basketball in the eighties with German stars Detlef Schrempf and the late great Christian Welp. They last made the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19 when they went 27-9. Since then, they've had just one winning conference record and this season (5-10) is not headed in the right direction. However, that's an improvement from their first season in the Big 10 when they went 4-16.
In their win over Minnesota last Saturday, Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Zoom Diallo added 17 points and four assists, shooting 7 of 8 from the field. Steinbach, like Welp, is from Germany and is of a similar size at 6-11. He leads Washington with 18 points and 11.3 rebounds, while shooting 55% from the field.
According to KenPom, Washington ranks 46th overall, 63rd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 43rd in Adjusted Defense. They also rank 26th in total rebounding percentage. In terms of injuries, Washington has lost guard Desmond Claude (ankle) for the season after playing 12 games. He was averaging 13.3 points per game. Forward Bryson Tucker (6.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg) is dealing with an undisclosed injury and is questionable. He missed the Minnesota game.
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Terps looking to back on track
Buzz Williams took over as head coach for Kevin Willard, who left for Villanova. Williams had to replace his entire team with transfers and some freshmen and the portal has not been kind to the Terps. Their best transfer was 6-9, 250-pound Pharrel Payne, who was averaging 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in 10 games and joined Williams from Texas A&M.
While Payne hasn't been declared out for the season, it doesn't appear he will return from a leg injury. Maryland is coming off a 78-74 loss at Northwestern on Wednesday. The main bright spot was freshman guard Andre Mills, who scored 39 points to lead the Terps. Like most freshmen, he's had his ups and downs. He scored 24 points against Iowa in Maryland's last win on Feb. 11 and then was held to nine points against Rutgers last Sunday in a 68-57 loss. With Payne injured, the leading scorer is David Coit, who averages 14.9 points and shoots 35.2% from the field.
According to KenPom, the Terps rank 131st overall, 132nd in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 150th in Adjusted Defense. Maryland ranks 155th in total rebound percentage.
Spread Pick and Prediction for Washington vs. Maryland
Washington vs. Maryland Odds, Picks and Prediction
- Maryland +3.5 (4 units)
Maryland hasn't been competitive against most teams in the Big 10, but they can compete against a Washington squad that is 3-7 on the road and is traveling across the country. Both teams have injury issues, but the Huskies appear to have just seven decent players right now. Maryland has several freshmen, including Mills (10.9ppg) and Darius Adams (11.6ppg), who are capable of having big games at home. The Terps have also covered three of their last four games.
- Under 145.5 (4 units)
Neither team is very fast when it comes to tempo so there won't be a ton of scoring. Maryland is also not very explosive offensively, and they are shooting just 42% from the field at home. Washington is shooting 44.5% from the field on the road and a brutally bad 28.3% from three-point range beyond the arc. They also rank 284th in three-point shooting percentage overall. Washington also averages just 73.4 points per game on the road.
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