Getty Jahmir Young and the Maryland Terrapins take on WVU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
The No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (21-12 overall, 11-9 in the Big Ten) will take on the No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers (19-14 overall, in the 7-11 Big 12) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 16 at Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama.
The game (12:15 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on CBS, but if you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream on Amazon Prime, Paramount+, FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which all come with a free trial.
Here’s a full guide on the different ways to you can watch a live stream of West Virginia vs Maryland online for free:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime subscribers (Prime comes with a 30-day free trial) can watch a live stream of their local CBS station via the Prime Paramount+ channel (“Premium” plan). You can try both Amazon Prime and the Paramount+ Channel at no cost with a free trial right here:
Once you’re signed up for the Prime Paramount+ Channel, you can watch West Virginia vs Maryland live on the Amazon Video app or Amazon website.
Compatible devices for the Amazon Video app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, various smart TV’s, Xiaomi, Echo Show or Echo Spot, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Paramount+
This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option above, only you’ll watch on Paramount’s digital platforms instead of Amazon’s. You can watch your local CBS channel live via Paramount+ (“Premium” plan), which comes with a free trial:
Once signed up for Paramount+, you can watch West Virginia vs Maryland live on the Paramount+ app or Paramount+ website.
Compatible devices for the Paramount+ app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Samsung Smart TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of CBS and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch West Virginia vs Maryland live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” CBS is included in every one, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch West Virginia vs Maryland live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
West Virginia vs Maryland Preview
The Terps are led by senior guard Jahmir Young, who is averaging 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Two other seniors, guard Hakim Hart and forward Donta Scott, are netting 11.5 points apiece per contest. Maryland is allowing just 63.2 points per game on defense, also holding opponents to 32.1% shooting from beyond the arc.
The Terrapins fell to Indiana in the Big Ten quarterfinals, losing 60-70. Maryland hit just 20 of 62 shots from the field (32.3%) in the loss and while it was a tad better from distance (37.5% on 9-of-24 attempts), the Terms can’t afford to have another poor shooting performance in the opening round.
“Your first one is really important for a lot of reasons,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said, per NBC Sports. “One of the main reasons is you have a lot of kids that haven’t been here before, so their reaction and their emotions and their feelings (are) great, it’s awesome. It’s great momentum for the program moving forward.”
On the other side, West Virginia fell to top-seeded Kansas in the Big 12 quarterfinals, losing 61-78. WVU went 25-of-56 from the floor (44.6%) and 4-of-19 from downtown (21.1%) in the loss.
The Mountaineers are led by senior guard Erik Stevenson, who is scoring 15.5 points and 3.5 boards per game. Tre Mitchell (11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds a game) is second on the team in scoring and Kendrian Johnson (11.2 points a game) is third. WVU is averaging 76.3 points a game on offense while shooting 45.3% from the field.
Both teams are fairly evenly matched in this one, with balanced scoring attacks and solid defenses to boot. It should be a hard-fought and entertaining contest.
“I think at this time of the year, one, your guys understand it’s one and done, which I think they’re more attentive and they play harder and so on and so forth, Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins said. “At that time of the year, that’s something that they look forward to. We have a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball, that have never played in an NCAA Tournament.”
The winner of this game will move on to face the winner of the No. 1 seed Alabama-vs-Texas A&M Corpus Cristi matchup. Maryland trails the all-time series against West Virginia, 24-14. These two teams last met in the tourney in 2015, when WVU won, 69-59.