Terps to face Villanova in Gavitt Games

Maryland will see familiar face in Hakim Hart when teams square off on Nov. 17

Maryland men’s basketball will see a familiar face on the opposite side of the floor when it faces Villanova on Nov. 17 in Philadelphia as part of the annual Gavitt Games.

Hakim Hart, who spent four years with the Terps, transferred to the Wildcats in December after initially declaring for the NBA draft. The 6-foot-8, 206-pound shooting guard ended last season ranked second on the squad in points (11.4 per game), assists (2.6) and steals (1.2) and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention.

Hart could take the floor against three former starting teammates in graduate student point guard Jahmir Young, fifth-year senior small forward Donta Scott and junior power forward Julian Reese.

Last winter, Maryland went 22-13 and earned the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing in the second round to overall No. 1 seed Alabama. Villanova limped to a 17-17 record, was bounced from the Big East Tournament quarterfinals and fell to Liberty in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The Terps are 3-0 all-time in the Gavitt Games, named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East. They defeated Georgetown in 2015 and 2016 and Butler in 2017.

But Maryland is just 1-4 against the Wildcats, who have won the past four meetings.

But the teams have not played against each other since Jan. 15, 2011, when Villanova won, 74-66.

In other scheduling news, the Terps will participate in home-and-home series with Big Ten rivals Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State and Rutgers.

They will welcome Michigan, Nebraska and Purdue to Xfinity Center and travel to Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Maryland won 16 of 17 games at home last season and was a perfect 10-0 against Big Ten opponents at Xfinity Center.