Maryland head coach Buzz Williams makes his long-awaited return to Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon as his Terrapins take on Marquette.
Williams spent six seasons with the Golden Eagles between 2008-14, a stretch that included five NCAA tournament appearances.
“It completely changed my life. I should not have gotten that job,” Williams said. “I did not know the Big East. I did not take that job thinking I was going to be the head coach. That’s a top 15 job no matter who the coach is, history speaks to that.”
Williams spent five seasons at Virginia Tech and six more at Texas A&M before joining Maryland.
“I think (the Marquette fans) will be cheering for (Marquette head coach) Shaka Smart and their team, and that’s what they should do,” Williams said. “Anything directed toward Maryland and/or Buzz Williams they’re entitled to. They’re as good as fans as there are in the country.”
The Terrapins (2-1) bounced back from their loss against another Big East foe in Georgetown last weekend with an 84-64 win over Alcorn State on Tuesday.
Pharrel Payne led Maryland with 22 points and seven rebounds versus the Braves. He currently leads all Big Ten players in active field goal percentage (64%) and is averaging 20 points per game.
Marquette (3-1) also bounced back from a loss against Indiana with a resounding 89-49 victory over Little Rock in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
“When you have a game like we had, you can’t play the next game soon enough,” Smart said. “We had a very spirited couple days of practice, some real self-reflection just in terms of who we want to be and have to be to create the type of outcomes we want this year.”
Big East Preseason First-Team selection Chase Ross has led the way for Marquette, averaging 18.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.
Ben Gold has been making his presence felt this season by grabbing at least eight rebounds in all four games this season. By comparison, he did that three times in his first 107 games with Marquette.
“That was a big thing I focused on in the offseason especially from how last season went,” Gold said. “We knew that was something we all have to improve on, and I wanted to be the person that led that.”