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From Towson University Men’s Basketball:
Towson University men’s basketball will participate in the 2026 Battle in Baltimore on December 19 at CFG Bank Arena. The Tigers will face George Mason in the first of two games on the day. Times are subject to change.
This will be the second consecutive year Towson men’s basketball has made the trip to Downtown Baltimore. Last season, the Tigers opened the year against Loyola in the Hall of Fame Classic, coming away with the 67-59 victory.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to compete in the Battle in Baltimore against an outstanding George Mason program led by Tony Skinn, who once again will have his team competing for an Atlantic 10 championship. The newly renovated CFG Bank Arena is a tremendous venue, and we’re looking forward to being part of what promises to be an exciting day of college basketball in Baltimore,” head coach Pat Skerry said.
Towson is looking to build off a 2025-26 season that saw the Tigers reach its fifth straight CAA Tournament semifinals. The Tigers return Jaquan Womack, Chike Ndefo, Jon Barton, Brandon Holmes, Caleb Embeya and Ryan Skerry from last year’s roster.
George Mason finished last season 23-10 (11-7 A10) good for fifth in the highly competitive A10. The Patriots finished the 2025-26 regular season with a win over a ranked Saint Louis team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
From University of Maryland Men’s Basketball:
The Maryland men’s basketball team will officially take on South Carolina on Saturday, December 19 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore as announced on Tuesday. Tip time, ticket info, and television information will all be shared in the near future.
This will mark the first time the two teams have met since March 29, 2005 in the NIT Semifinals at Madison Square Garden. It will be the 59th all-time meeting between the two teams with Maryland holding a 31-27 edge in the all-time series.
The two schools were conference rivals in both the Southern Conference and the ACC from the first meeting in 1925 until 1971.
One of the most famous meetings in the series came on Jan. 9, 1971 when the Terps defeated the second-ranked Gamecocks, 31-30, in overtime at Cole Field House. Jim O’Brien’s jumper at the buzzer in OT capped a spurt of six points in the final 14 seconds for Maryland. The game was a rematch of the earlier meeting that season which South Carolina won by 26 points and featured several fights and reprimands. After that game, head coach Lefty Driesell implemented his “slow-down” strategy which led to Maryland holding a 4-3 lead at halftime in the rematch.
The win marked Driesell’s first against a ranked opponent during his career leading the Terps.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams in Baltimore. In College Park, the Terps hold a 19-7 all-time record against the Gamecocks.
