How to watch Maryland basketball vs. Belmont in the NCAA Tournament

noMaryland men's basketball will start its NCAA Tournament run Thursday afternoon against Belmont. The Terps earned a 6-seed on Selection Sunday, and will go up against the No. 11-seed Bruins fresh off a First Four win in Dayton, Ohio.

It’s Maryland’s 28th time in the tournament and the fourth appearance in head coach Mark Turgeon’s eight years at the helm. The Terps are coming off a disappointing showing in the Big Ten tournament, going one-and-done against Nebraska in Chicago. Honorable mention All-American center Bruno Fernando was stifled, while leading scorer Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 17 of his 18 points in the second half. Both will look for the first postseason wins of their careers Thursday.

The Bruins won a share of the Ohio Valley regular season title, but fell in the tournament championship to Murray State. Belmont earned the conference its first at-large bid since 1987 with its inclusion, then topped Temple in the play-in game, 81-70, with top player Dylan Windler having an off night with just five points. In his stead, guard Kevin McClain and center Nick Muszynski dropped 26 and 16, respectively.

The Terps have won 12 of their last 13 opening round games, but also haven’t won a postseason game since 2016. Turgeon will look to guide Maryland to its first tournament win since going to the Sweet 16 that season. Here’s an in-depth preview of the matchup.

The numbers

No. 21 Maryland: 22-10, 13-7 Big Ten

Belmont: 27-55, 16-2 Ohio Valley

All-time series: This will be the first time the two programs meet

Odds: Maryland is favored by 5-points

How to watch and listen

Thursday, March 21, approx. 3:10 p.m. (ET), Vystar Veteran's Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida

TV: TruTV — Ian Eagle (Play-by-Play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst), Jamie Erdahl (sideline)

Streaming: March Madness Live

Radio: National (Tom McCarthy, Jon Crispin); Maryland Sports Radio Network, XM 84 (Johnny Holliday, Chris Knoche); WMUC Sports (Justin Gallanty, Connor Newcomb)

In other news

Last call for the bracket challenge! Brackets lock at tipoff of the first game.

Maryland lacrosse was well-represented in the weekly Big Ten awards. Bubba Fairman and Roman Puglise earned the offensive player and defensive player honors on the men’s side, while Megan Taylor earned her third-straight Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Women’s lacrosse has a matchup in State College, taking on No. 23 Penn State for its first conference road match of the season.

Baseball swept its midweek series against Elon, with the Terps’ bats coming alive for a 12-4 win.

Twenty-three different Terps were named to the All-Big Ten Academic team for the winter, with eight from gymnastics, seven from wrestling, six from men’s basketball and two from women’s basketball.

The Andrew Terrell show is back in time for the tournament.