After completing a challenging 27-game regular season, the Terps (16-13, 9-11 B1G) were selected to the 2021 NCAA Tournament and will face off against No. 7 seed UCONN (15-7, 11-6 BIG EAST) in the first round on Saturday.

The Terps were selected to the field of 68 for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Maryland’s resume this season was highlighted by four victories over ranked opponents, three of which came on the road.

“It was fun, because it took so long the reaction was better,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “We had a couple guys in tears. They were so happy. It’s been an incredibly difficult year, but an amazing year. From 4-9 to the NCAA Tournament is pretty cool.”

This is the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 8 2015, a 76-66 Maryland win at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak, before suffering a 59-56 loss to Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

UCONN is led by sophomore guard James Bouknight who averaged 19 points per game in the regular season including one 40-point outing against Creighton earlier this season. Similar to Maryland, UCONN is known for its tenacious defense as opponents have scored 64.6 points per game, which is the lowest total in the Big East.

“I’m familiar with UCONN, I know who they have,” Darryl Morsell said. “I played AAU with some of those guys, I know them for sure.”