The Maryland Terrapins return to the hardwood tonight for a massive conference matchup against No. 17 Illinois. And while the good news is that Maryland is still very much in the tournament picture with 12 games to go in the regular season, the bad news is that tonight’s matchup takes place in Champaign.

Road wins have certainly been hard to come by for Willard and the Terrapins. In fact, Maryland is just 6-21 on the road since Willard took over in 2022. The Terps are winless in true road games this season and haven’t experienced a win on the road since Feb. 25, 2024. Those struggles on the road have become the main talking point when it comes to Willard and this Maryland Basketball program, so much so that some are starting to wonder if it might be time for a coaching change.

Following a three point win against Nebraska at home last Sunday, Big Ten analyst John Beilein indicated he believes the Terps have the right staff and the right players. But ultimately, Beilein acknowledged that the road issues are impossible to ignore.

“Maryland’s just… they’re up and they’re down, Beilein said. “They’re up and they’re down, and they’re trying to find themselves somewhere along the line. They have the talent, they have the coaching expertise to be really good in this league, but together they’ve got to figure it out. Because, and we talked about this last week, you’ve got to go .500 on this road if you’re going to be at that top and be safely in that good seed in the NCAA [tournament]. They’re not going .500 on the road. Illinois will probably go .500 on the road, Michigan might be even better than that. But Maryland’s not doing that until they solve some of these issues.”

Willard has also acknowledged the road issues for his basketball program, while also saying that the schedule hasn’t helped matters.

“I’ve said this for as long as I’ve been a coach, sometimes your schedule will dictate how you play. And you cannot let your schedule affect how you get better and what your goal is overall. And we’ve definitely had a tough go. Nebraska’s had a tough go. Northwestern played Sunday at noon against Michigan State, we played Monday night at 9 and had to travel. And people say that’s not that big of a deal, what’s the difference? That gives a team a whole… one team is coming off a bye week and has a whole day of rest and preparation.”

Willard may have a point when it comes to scheduling, but the reality is that every team in the conference has to deal with a challenging schedule. That comes with the territory in being part of the Big Ten.

When the Terrapins take the court in Champaign tonight at 9 pm ET, they’ll have another opportunity to change a growing narrative about their program. But a loss will only reinforce what many critics already believe to be true about Willard and the Terps.

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