As Washington has struggled through a second straight lackluster season since joining the Big Ten Conference, one positive has been the remarkable consistency of Hannes Steinbach.
Meanwhile, 2,700 miles away at Maryland, which is muddling through its worst season since 1988-89, the most encouraging development has been the progression of Andre Mills.
With both freshmen coming off stellar performances, they will square off Saturday in College Park, Md., when the Huskies (13-13, 5-10 Big Ten) face the Terrapins (10-16, 3-12).
Steinbach, who is averaging 18.0 points and a Big Ten-high 11.3 rebounds per game, has scored in double figures in every game this season, including last Saturday when he posted 26 points in a 69-57 win over Minnesota.
The 6-foot-11 Steinbach made 12 of 17 shots from the floor, prompting Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle to urge his guards to get him the ball more often.
“He’s a creator because when he gets the ball, he’s a willing passer,” Sprinkle said. “We need to do a better job getting him open and finding him when he is open. He is such a threat, teams are game planning for him.”
Steinbach, who led Germany to the silver medal at the 2025 FIBA U-19 World Cup, is likely one-and-done at Washington as he has been projected as a potential lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
At Maryland, Mills has evolved into a blossoming force after some midseason struggles. In Wednesday’s 78-74 loss at Northwestern, he scored a career-high 39 points on 12-of-17 shooting with six 3-pointers.
Mills has improved as the season has progressed. In six games this month, he is averaging 18.8 points while hitting 53.5% of his shots from the floor and 45.5% from 3-point range.
Those figures are a vast improvement from his January numbers of 7.3 points per game on 36.7% overall shooting and 33.3% marksmanship from deep.
Terrapins coach Buzz Williams saw positives in the loss at Northwestern, including strong work inside from Solomon Washington (11 points, 14 rebounds).
“We doubled them up on the offensive glass,” Williams said. “That’s the highest number of assists we’ve had all year. We’re sharing the ball.”
