6 p.m. at Maryland • FS1, 100.3-FM

Another shot at a ranked team

Preview: The Gophers (19-11, 9-10 Big Ten) won't be in desperation mode when they play Friday at No. 24 Maryland (21-9, 12-7) to end the regular season. That's because of Tuesday's 73-69 victory over No. 11 Purdue on Senior Night. It improved Minnesota's Quadrant 1 record to 3-8 this season, which appears to put Richard Pitino's team in a good spot to make the NCAA tournament. Pitino can remove any doubt on Selection Sunday with another Quad 1 victory against the Terrapins. Maryland won 82-67 at Minnesota on Jan. 8 and is coming off a 69-62 home loss against Michigan in which leading scorer Anthony Cowan Jr. was held to 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting. The junior guard had a game-high 27 points against the Gophers earlier this season.

Players to watch: Gophers junior guard Amir Coffey has 63 points on 20-for-34 shooting from the field combined in his past two games, which includes tying his career high with 32 points on 13-for-18 foul shooting vs. Purdue. Terrapins freshman Jalen Smith, who is averaging 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds this season, had 21 points and eight rebounds in his first meeting with Minnesota.

Numbers: The Gophers are looking to post wins in back-to-back games against ranked opponents for the first time since beating Michigan State and Purdue to open the 1992-93 Big Ten season (excluding vacated games).

MARCUS FULLER