Maryland appears to be turning the corner just in time for the New Year and the #1 Boilermakers to come to town.

Maryland has 19 straight wins at home, and picked up its first signature win of the year before the break, heading into UCLA and pulling off the upset to bring its record to 9-4 on the season. Maryland is 1-1 in the Big Ten.

Purdue responded to its first Big Ten game, a loss at Northwestern, by reeling off five straight victories including knocking off then #1 Arizona. It will now look to pick up its first road game of the year against a Maryland team that gave Purdue it's most convincing loss of the season last year, 68-54.

In Purdue's two games against Maryland last season, the normally high-powered offense was ground to a halt, scoring just 58 in a home win and 54 in the road loss.

The memories still linger for a Purdue team that played some of its worst basketball last season against the Terrapins.

"Probably that we got whooped pretty bad," Caleb Furst said about his memories of last year's game at Maryland.

For Matt Painter, the game came down to what it usually does in losses.

"We have struggled shooting the basketball against them," he said after practice on Sunday. "I think the challenge is always the decision making challenge."

Purdue will have to shoot better this year and be mentally tougher if it wants to push itself back up to the top of the Big Ten standings.

Maryland used a second half surge to jump out at Purdue and Purdue had no answer.

"Last year we couldn't stop the bleeding in the second half," Painter said. "We're in a good position. We have a technical foul, and it changes the course of the game. And we just didn't score at all and they did."

It takes more mental toughness on the road, Painter said, about his team and the challenges it'll face at Maryland. Purdue will have to do the two things it couldn't do against Maryland last year to win a tough one on the road - knock down shots and not turn the ball over.

On the other end, Purdue will have to have an answer for Jahmir Young. After transferring to Maryland last season, Young has been one of the Big Ten's best guards and most dominant offensive performers. He put up 37 points in Maryland's road win against UCLA.

He hasn't a bunch of help on the offensive end this season. Freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith hasn't found his rhythm shooting the ball. Jordan Geronimo is a limited offensive player who has made just 2 of his 22 three-point attempts.

Donta Scott's pulling out of a beginning of the season slump and the usually efficient Julian Reese is barely over 50% from the floor.

But after losing three games in a row in November, Maryland is on a five game win streak, and looking to extend its home win streak to twenty while playing its best ball of the season.

On Tuesday, it'll get to that against the best team in the country.

Jahmir Young missed Maryland's after Christmas game against Coppin State on December 28th with an illness. While Maryland expects to have its leading scorer back to host #1 Purdue, it will mean that Young will have not played a game since Maryland's 69-60 win on the road against a struggling UCLA team. Young was phenomenal that game, scoring 37 points against the Bruins on his way to leading Maryland to its first road win of the season.

Purdue has yet to win on the road this season, and its trip to Maryland last year was probably its worst performance on the season.

"You know, we haven't won a road game," Matt Painter said on New Year's Eve, two days prior to Purdue's trip to Maryland.

If Purdue is gonna get its first road win of the year against the Terrapins, it won't be easy. Maryland was the Big Ten's best home team last season.

"They didn't lose a conference game at home last year," Painter continued.

Maryland jumped on Purdue early and never let up, winning 68-54 off a Purdue team that limped towards the end of its Big Ten schedule last season, with Maryland being the middle loss of a stretch that saw Purdue lose 3 of 4 games.

Young was great that game, too. He scored 20 points, had 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Young led a wing and guard group that was simply too physical for Purdue last season. Its size and defense overwhelmed Purdue. Maryland out rebounded Purdue by 12 at home last season, winning the possession battle against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation.

So how will Young feel after an illness and time off over the holidays? Will he have his wind right away or will the time off have him rusty?

Two of Maryland's key returners and starters, Donta Scott and Julian Reese, have not exactly lived up to their usual standings this season.

Julian Reese's counting stats look better, he's gone up from 11.4 points a game to 14.3. He has been better defensively and on the glass, nearly averaging a double-double this season with 9.7 rebounds a game, but Reese's contributions have been inconsistent. He's shooting just over 50% from the field after being 63% last year. He's a player that lives in the paint and is one of the best players at getting to the free throw line in the country, but he's making less than 60% of his attempts at the charity stripe.

But in Maryland's loss to UAB, he had just 5 points, scored just one point against UCLA, and against Nicholls State, he went 3 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 11 from the free throw line.

Donta Scott appears to be finding his rhythm again, scoring 12, 17, and 15 over his last three, but after being one of the team's most dependable options the last three seasons, the fifth-year senior is averaging under 10 points a game with less than 40% shooting from the floor and 33% three-point shooting.

He's rebounding less, assisting less, forcing less steals, and getting less blocks while playing less minutes in Maryland's first 13 games of the season. He's scored in single-digits in three of Maryland's four losses on the season.