Students react to attendance at Maryland men’s basketball’s “White Out” game

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Maryland men’s basketball kicked off conference play against Ohio State Wednesday, unveiling the “White Out” themed night for the only game this season, making this the second of the main themed night of the season, with “Black Out” and “Gold Rush” events still to come later on in the season.

The “White Out” brought no shortage of excitement for the student fans at the Xfinity Center, with the Terps dismantling Ohio State in front of a crowd that appeared to come straight out of a winter wonderland Christmas movie, with the score of 83-59.

Despite the concerns of attendance, Xfinity sat over 13,700 fans Wednesday night, bringing in quite the crowd for the conference opener.

The white theme inside of the Xfinity Center has been eye-catchers for students for years now. Michael Greener, a freshman, had waited for quite some time before coming to the university to experience a “White Out” game.

“I’ve loved watching these kinds of games on TV the past few years,” Greener said. “Finally, being able to experience one as a student makes it cool to see in person, I’m excited to see the turnout tonight.”

Jacob Walley, a senior, is experiencing his last “White Out” game here, hoping to end on a high note.

“I’ve been to a few whiteout games in my time here,” Walley said. “I want this last one to be a cool time, really have the crowd alive for a sick environment that hopefully takes place here tonight.”

The previous themed game was against Marquette back in November, hosting a “Red Out” themed game where the Terps fell short at the end. Student fans across the university are skeptical if the same energy will be reciprocated as it was for the “Red Out”.

Hunter Edwards, a senior, sensed that the atmosphere wouldn’t be as significant as it was in the last go around. Edwards said that the fans won’t be focused too much on the game during this time of the year.

“It’s not the most ideal time of the semester to have a game like this,” Edwards said. “Finals season is here, and I don’t see many fans coming out on a Wednesday night for a game when they have too much schoolwork to focus on. Maybe if this themed night was later in the year, it would be better to go to.”

While the Terps only have one more home game until the winter break, some believe that this game would’ve been better to play later in the week.

Julia Snyder, a sophomore, believes that the game would have been a better fit for a Friday night instead of being played in the middle of the week.

“I think it would have been a better sort of reward for students and obviously the players if this game would have been played on this Friday,” Snyder said. “It would have made more students be able to take a break from studying for finals and whatever, let the nerves calm down.”

The Terps will continue conference play against No. 8 ranked Purdue on Sunday on the road.