Maryland basketball falls back to No. 24 in AP Poll

After dropping both of its games last week, Maryland basketball fell seven spots to No. 24 in the AP Poll released Monday.

The Terps received 207 points, well down from 549 last week. Their previous placement of No. 17 was their second-highest of the season; they were No. 13 the week of Jan. 21. In those two weeks, though, Maryland went a combined 0-4. Before last week, the Terps were No. 24 in three straight polls.

Both of last week’s games were considered close to toss-ups in Vegas and predictive metrics, but it’s obviously disheartening to lose both. Maryland turned in its worst effort of the season against Penn State, then missed a chance to knock off a top-10 Michigan team at home.

The Wolverines moved up to No. 7 in this week’s poll after beating Nebraska and Maryland. Michigan State fell to No. 9 after losing to Indiana for the second time this season on Saturday. Purdue, which is in the driver’s seat to win the regular-season Big Ten title, is 11th. Wisconsin, who’s now in fourth place after Maryland’s 0-2 week, is ranked 21st. Iowa was ranked 22nd last week but is no longer receiving votes after falling to Ohio State and Rutgers.

Maryland closes its regular season against Minnesota at home Friday night.