Maryland Men’s Basketball Announces Home-And-Home Series With UCLA

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Maryland men’s basketball program announced it has agreed to a home-and-home series with UCLA with the first match-up being played in XFINITY Center on Dec. 14, 2022. The Terps will travel to Pauley Pavilion to play on Dec. 22, 2023 during the 2023-24 season.

“My programs have always played challenging non-conference opponents and we are continuing that here at Maryland,” said new head coach Kevin Willard. “We are excited to play one of the most storied programs in college basketball history as UCLA will come to College Park this upcoming season. Being close friends with UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, this is an exciting opportunity for us to compete on a national stage. I know our fans will be enthusiastic about UCLA coming to XFINITY and I look forward to seeing them come out in full force.”

Maryland and UCLA have a long history dating to when Hall of Fame Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell famously declared the Terrapins had the ‘potential to be the UCLA of the East Coast’ when he was introduced as Maryland’s head coach in 1969. The programs met for their first home-and-home during the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons when both teams were ranked in the top-5 at the time of the games. UCLA won both games as the No. 1 Bruins edged the No. 4 Terrapins, 65-64 on Dec. 1, 1973, in Westwood. A year later at Cole Field House, No. 3 UCLA beat No. 5 Maryland, 81-75 on Dec. 28, 1974.

The teams played another pair of games in the early 1980s with UCLA beating the Terps 90-57 at Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 29, 1981. Maryland won its first game in the series, upsetting the then-No. 3 Bruins, 80-79, on Dec. 23, 1982, at Cole Field House in double-overtime.

The teams have played four games at neutral sites since with Maryland winning a Top-10 match-up on Nov. 27, 1998, as the No. 5 Terps beat the No. 10 Bruins, 70-54, in Puerto Rico. The last meeting came on Nov. 19, 2007, in Kansas City as part of the College Basketball Experience Classic as the No. 2-ranked Bruins defeated Maryland, 71-57.

Maryland-UCLA Series History

Dec. 1, 1973: No. 1 UCLA 65, No. 4 Maryland 64 (Pauley Pavilion)
Dec. 28, 1974: No. 3 UCLA 81, No. 5 Maryland 75 (Cole Field House)
Dec. 29, 1981: No. 16 UCLA 90, Maryland 57 (Pauley Pavilion)
Dec. 23, 1982: Maryland 80, No. 3 UCLA 79 (2OT) (Cole Field House)
Dec. 9, 1995: UCLA 73, No. 20 Maryland 63 (Anaheim, Calif.)
Nov. 27, 1998: No. 5 Maryland 70, No. 10 UCLA 54 (Puerto Rico)
March 18, 2000: UCLA 105, No. 17 Maryland 70 (Minneapolis, Minn. – NCAA Second Round)
Nov. 19, 2007: No. 2 UCLA 71, Maryland 59 (Kansas City, Mo.)

— Maryland Athletics press release

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

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