Maryland
Michigan State heads to Maryland looking for first road win of season
EAST LANSING – Does Michigan State have issues on the road?
It’s January 21 and the Spartans have yet to win a game outside of the state of Michigan: they’re 0-3 in true road games and 1-2 in neutral-site games, with their lone win coming against Baylor at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Yet Tom Izzo doesn’t think the road has been the problem in those losses.
“We’ve got this ‘You haven’t won on the road.’ We haven’t won on the road because we’re not good enough to win on the road,” Izzo said after his team’s last road loss, to Illinois on Jan. 11. “It’s not because of the road.”
Michigan State will likely find out whether that’s true or not during a pair of road games this week, at Maryland on Sunday (noon, CBS) and at No. 11 Wisconsin on Friday.
Michigan State is far from alone in the Big Ten in having a lackluster road record. Through Friday’s games, Big Ten home teams had own 73 percent of conference games, on pace to be the highest figure in decades. That percentage includes the conference’s top teams: Purdue is just 2-2 in road games, and Wisconsin dropped a game at Penn State last week.
The Spartans’ last road loss was by three to a then-top-10 Illinois team. It’s also lost away from home to Duke and Arizona, who are also both ranked. Izzo defended most of those performances as strong, just not strong enough.
“We’re not losing games because we can’t win on the road,” Izzo said. “We’re losing games because we didn’t play well enough on the road. There’s a big difference.”
But if the Spartans are going to rally in the last 13 games of the regular season and make the NCAA Tournament after an 11-7 start, road wins will be necessary.
Maryland started the season 1-4 with losses to Davidson and UAB, but a week ago recorded its best win of the season, on the road at Illinois.
Fifth-year Terrapins guard Jahir Young has averaged 26.5 points per game in his team’s last six games and is coming off of a 36-point performance on Wednesday at Northwestern in a loss.
But Maryland (11-7, 3-4) is also the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten at just 27.9 percent.
Michigan State has won two straight entering the game, over Rutgers and Minnesota – although Izzo lamented after the team’s Minnesota win on Thursday that his team didn’t “progress” in a game that was tied with four minutes left before the Spartans won by 10.
“We didn’t do some things early and that’s disappointing and I will stay disappointed in it and be happy about the win,” Izzo said.
The effort, which included allowing Minnesota to shoot better than 50 percent from the field for much of the game, likely won’t be sufficient when the Spartans head on the road and look to break through.
“I’m going right to work on Maryland which is a big road game that we have next,” Izzo said.
Calling all outdoorsmen and women — Maryland’s Lower Shore is home to some of the best hiking, walking and running trails on the East Coast.
Here’s a closer look at four picturesque parks and preserves with nature trails in the Berlin, Salisbury and Ocean City area.
Assateague Island
Assateague Island offers a wide variety of paved and unpaved trails open for hiking and 37 miles of flat beach terrain for wandering and beachcombing. Assateague Island’s Maryland District features a Life of the Dunes trail, Life of the Forest trail, Life of the Marsh trail.
Furnace Town
Furnace Town is nestled between the Pocomoke State Forest and Nature Conservancy’s Nassawango Creek Preserve. The popular historical site offers three Nature Conservancy Trails, three Maryland Forest service Trails, and a 26-acre outdoor museum and recreation area.
Pemberton Historical Park
Pemberton Historical Park, a 262-acre area featuring a trail system, outdoor amphitheater and more, was created in the 1980s. The park offers 4.5 miles of nature trails for walking and hiking only, allowing visitors to explore wetlands, forests and more of the natural world.
Nassawango Creek Preserve
Nassawango Creek Preserve’s primeval forest has an abundance of bald cypress and black gum trees. Visitors are invited to indulge in its four trails, the Nassawango Joe, Prothonotary Warbler, Ron Wilson Memorial Trail and Leifer Trail, as well as self-guided audio tours.
Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.
The 21-year-old second baseman and 11th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft has deep ties to the D.C. region.
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals’ first-round draft pick Chris Hacopian inked his first professional contract Wednesday, a moment made sweeter by the fact it was just a 30-minute drive from home to get to Nationals Park and put pen to paper.
The 21-year-old second baseman and 11th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft has deep ties to the D.C. region. He’s from Potomac, Maryland, and played his high school ball at Winston Churchill, where he was named the 2022 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year and a 2022 Washington Post All-Met selection.
According to MLB.com, Hacopian grew up a Nationals fan, admiring the likes of Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and others. He also played his first two collegiate seasons at the University of Maryland, where his father Derek played before him, before transferring to Texas A&M for his junior season.
With the Aggies, Hacopian hit .319 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI across 42 games en route to being named First-Team All-Southeastern Conference and a Third-Team All-American by Baseball America, the Nationals said in a news release.
After inking his contract Wednesday, Hacopian donned his new jersey and ball cap and stepped onto D.C.’s beloved diamond as a part of the Nationals organization for the first time.
“That was so cool, oh my gosh. I’ve been in the stands like, 100 times, but being on the field is so different,” he said.
Hacopian was ranked 14th among MLB Draft prospects by MLB.com. The 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound second baseman boasted one of the best bats in college baseball, according to MLB.com, with excellent control over the strike zone and feel for the barrel, along with solid pop.
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The state said the five recently traveled together to “a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak.”
Maryland health officials confirmed five more measles cases, all in Carroll County.
“These individuals recently traveled together to a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak,” the state Department of Health said in a release.
The agency said others may have been exposed on the afternoon of July 13 in the emergency department waiting room at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster.
Another measles case recently prompted warnings from health officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District. On June 17, a Maryland resident traveled through Dulles International Airport and visited a D.C. urgent care clinic.
Measles is highly contagious. It can spread through the air through coughs, breathing, and sneezes. Early symptoms can include fevers of over 101 degrees, coughs, runny noses, watery eyes and face or body rashes.
It can take up to 21 days after exposure for the first symptoms to appear, and those who are not fully vaccinated or otherwise immune to measles are especially vulnerable.
The five new measles cases in Maryland bring the state’s year-to-date total to nine. The state health department confirmed three cases in 2025, and one in each of the previous two years.
“All Marylanders should review potential exposure times, watch for symptoms, and confirm they are up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations,” the health department said.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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