COLLEGE PARK — Kevin Willard spends his downtime scouring college basketball’s various rankings, metrics and polls. KenPom, which ranks Maryland men’s basketball 15th in the nation and third in the Big Ten, is his favorite. He often shows it to his players before a game to emphasize the importance of a matchup and the effect a win or loss might have on their positioning.

Willard hasn’t shown his team any analytics ahead of Wednesday’s bout with No. 8 Michigan State, but his players already know how monumental it’ll be. After all, a check of the Big Ten standings is just a few clicks away.

“I have not talked to them about the standings,” the coach said. “They have talked about it themselves. What I love most about coaching this team is that I think they do have a sense of awareness of where they are and what’s going on within the league.”

The Terps (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) are just two games back of the Spartans (22-5, 13-3) in the conference standings for first place. They’ve made plenty of strides in Willard’s third season, and this is undoubtedly his best team yet. As their March potential comes into focus, glimpses of what a team shaped in Willard’s image can be at its peak appear.

Another highlight could be added to this already impressive season Wednesday, which the team announced Tuesday morning is sold out. It’s Maryland’s most anticipated game of the season with a Big Ten regular-season title still within reach, as the Terps trail only the Spartans and Michigan Wolverines (21-6, 13-3) in the standings through Monday’s results. Toppling Michigan State is pivotal in that chase.

Maryland enters Wednesday undefeated at home in conference play — the only Big Ten team that can say that. This recent stretch has slingshotted the Terps to No. 16 in the AP poll, their highest ranking under Willard and best place since climbing to No. 13 on Dec. 5, 2022.

That’s partly to do with their dominant record in College Park. Xfinity Center has always been a daunting environment for opponents, and it’s reached new heights under Willard. Maryland has just six losses to Big Ten foes at home over the past three seasons, which all came during the 2023-24 campaign.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot of [opponents] get a little frustrated,” senior center and Baltimore native Julian Reese said. “They get down on themselves when they miss shots, and our crowds just start screaming, then they start cheering, and we start scoring. It’s a domino effect mentally for them.”

At 22-5 — but just 4-3 in February — the Spartans are Maryland’s highest-ranked opponent since Marquette in November, still the Terps’ only loss in College Park this season. The highest-ranked Big Ten team comes to Xfinity Center on the heels of perhaps its best week of the season. Michigan State earned a pair of victories over top-15 opponents, beating Purdue at home by nine before a 13-point road win over the Wolverines, proving they have no trouble winning in uncomfortable settings.

Michigan State is first in the Big Ten standings and two games ahead of Maryland, which is in a two-way tie for third place through Monday’s games. The Terps have just one more game after Wednesday against a team currently ahead of them in that race — a March 5 contest at Michigan — increasing the importance of this showdown with the Spartans, who Maryland hasn’t beaten since 2022.

“Getting them to understand the NET, margin of victory, who you’re playing, when you’re playing, where you’re playing, I think has changed this team’s mentality a little bit,” Willard said. “Instead of just going into every game trying to win, understanding the importance of every game.”

Why could this matchup be different from the past six? Those teams didn’t have one of the most relentless starting units in the country.

Dubbed “the Crab Five” by fans on social media, a local twist on Michigan’s famed “Fab Five” team of the early 1990s that reached the national championship game, the quintet of Reese, Derik Queen, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel has earned that lofty comparison.

“We all love playing with each other, and it’s cool to have that nickname,” said Gillespie, a Belmont transfer and the Terps’ second-leading scorer behind Queen. “But we do have a whole team. So, I mean, it isn’t just us out there.”

“It took me a little while to get it,” Willard quipped. “I thought we played pretty fast — we’re eighth in tempo. But I think it’s great.”

Every member of Maryland’s starting bunch is averaging at least 11 points per game. In the Terps’ win over USC last week, each of the five scored in double figures, the nation-leading sixth time that’s happened this season. The group scored every point in Maryland’s 83-75 win over Nebraska earlier this month, the second-highest total for a starting five among Power Four conference teams in a game this year. With them leading the way, the Terps have won eight of their past nine games.

They’re giving opponents fits. And they’re even harder to stop at home, where their undefeated record will be tested and a passing grade pushes them a step closer to a potential conference title.

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