Maryland still searching for a signature win as Michigan State comes to town
The Maryland men?s basketball team?s six-day layoff after Monday night?s crushing 71-68 loss at Indiana was its longest break of the Big Ten season, and it could not have arrived at a more critical time. The next four days, beginning with Sunday?s game against sixth-ranked Michigan State in College Park and followed by Wednesday?s trip to third-ranked Purdue, will play a significant role in whether Maryland will play in the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive year.
The Terrapins (15-7, 4-5 Big Ten) have lost four of their last six and don?t have much of a case to make the 68-team field, not with a 1-6 record against teams ranked in the top 50 of the Rating Percentage Index, a key metric for the tournament selection committee in determining seedings and at-large bids.
Other than a mid-November win over Butler, which entered Saturday?s games ranked 31st in the RPI, Maryland?s best victory on that scale came earlier this month against depleted Minnesota, which was ranked 102nd nationally. The Big Ten is enduring a down season ? the league could send just four teams to the tournament ? and there are a dearth of opportunities at r?sum?-building wins.
Which means that Maryland will likely need to pull a major upset against either Michigan State (19-3, 7-2) or Purdue (20-2, 9-0). If it were to lose both games as expected ? the analytics website KenPom.com gives Maryland a 34 percent chance to beat the Spartans and a 10 percent chance to beat the Boilermakers ? the Terrapins would likely need to win six of their final seven games to reach 10 league wins, often a benchmark for being in the conversation for a bid Selection Sunday. ]
Even then, the lack of quality wins could keep them out; of those final seven final games, only the home finale against Michigan (33rd in RPI) appears to be a significant chance to build its portfolio.
?We know that every game is big. We know that we need to win as many games as we possibly can to keep our streak alive with the NCAA tournament. We are where we are,? Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said. ?We can?t get caught up that we have to win this game.?
Maryland expects to have its first sellout crowd of the season at Xfinity Center on Sunday; the school is also expecting heightened national media at the game in the wake of the sex-abuse scandal that has embroiled Michigan State, including the men?s basketball program.
Turgeon was asked on Saturday what he thought the Spartans? mind-set might be on Sunday. ?I think basketball gives you something to focus on, and I think having back-to-back games might be good for them. I don?t know,? Turgeon said.
It was less than a month ago that the Terrapins were blown out by 30 points on the road against the Spartans; that was followed with an embarrassing 22-point loss at Ohio State and a one-point loss at Michigan after a late-game defensive breakdown. Maryland dropped to 1-5 on the road after squandering a chance to tie Indiana in the final seconds on Monday night, which came when sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. broke off a half-court set and settled for a 25-foot three-point attempt that missed.
?He basically just told me just to keep my confidence. He obviously saw I was frustrated,? Cowan said.
Turgeon isn?t concerned with Cowan burning out over the final nine games, though the sophomore leads the Big Ten in minutes per game (36.1), while sophomore guard Kevin Huerter is third in the league with 33.7 minutes per outing. Those numbers have shot up after Maryland?s roster was reduced to nine scholarship players by season-ending injuries to forwards Justin Jackson and Ivan Bender, and teams have mostly crafted their defensive game-plans around stopping Cowan and Huerter. How those two players coalesce, especially late in games, will be critical over the final stretch of the season.
?One thing we?ve talked about more and more, is learning to trust our teammates, letting other guys make plays,? Huerter said.
Turgeon didn?t need to run down the areas his team must improve in as arena crew members filed in to start setting up for the biggest game of the year on Saturday, but he could have. His team needs to keep Fernando healthy; find more consistent production from center Michal Cekovsky; develop a reliable third scorer behind Cowan and Huerter; take better care of the ball (Maryland is last in the Big Ten in turnover margin at minus-3.2 per game); and defend better, especially from the perimeter, where it has surrendered 67-made three-pointers in the last six games. Those areas will be magnified against two of the top teams in the country over the next four days.
?We have plenty of basketball left,? Turgeon said. ?We?re only halfway through league, and hopefully we can play our best basketball down the stretch.?
The Maryland men?s basketball team?s six-day layoff after Monday night?s crushing 71-68 loss at Indiana was its longest break of the Big Ten season, and it could not have arrived at a more critical time. The next four days, beginning with Sunday?s game against sixth-ranked Michigan State in College Park and followed by Wednesday?s trip to third-ranked Purdue, will play a significant role in whether Maryland will play in the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive year.
The Terrapins (15-7, 4-5 Big Ten) have lost four of their last six and don?t have much of a case to make the 68-team field, not with a 1-6 record against teams ranked in the top 50 of the Rating Percentage Index, a key metric for the tournament selection committee in determining seedings and at-large bids.
Other than a mid-November win over Butler, which entered Saturday?s games ranked 31st in the RPI, Maryland?s best victory on that scale came earlier this month against depleted Minnesota, which was ranked 102nd nationally. The Big Ten is enduring a down season ? the league could send just four teams to the tournament ? and there are a dearth of opportunities at r?sum?-building wins.
Which means that Maryland will likely need to pull a major upset against either Michigan State (19-3, 7-2) or Purdue (20-2, 9-0). If it were to lose both games as expected ? the analytics website KenPom.com gives Maryland a 34 percent chance to beat the Spartans and a 10 percent chance to beat the Boilermakers ? the Terrapins would likely need to win six of their final seven games to reach 10 league wins, often a benchmark for being in the conversation for a bid Selection Sunday. ]
Even then, the lack of quality wins could keep them out; of those final seven final games, only the home finale against Michigan (33rd in RPI) appears to be a significant chance to build its portfolio.
?We know that every game is big. We know that we need to win as many games as we possibly can to keep our streak alive with the NCAA tournament. We are where we are,? Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said. ?We can?t get caught up that we have to win this game.?
Maryland expects to have its first sellout crowd of the season at Xfinity Center on Sunday; the school is also expecting heightened national media at the game in the wake of the sex-abuse scandal that has embroiled Michigan State, including the men?s basketball program.
Turgeon was asked on Saturday what he thought the Spartans? mind-set might be on Sunday. ?I think basketball gives you something to focus on, and I think having back-to-back games might be good for them. I don?t know,? Turgeon said.
It was less than a month ago that the Terrapins were blown out by 30 points on the road against the Spartans; that was followed with an embarrassing 22-point loss at Ohio State and a one-point loss at Michigan after a late-game defensive breakdown. Maryland dropped to 1-5 on the road after squandering a chance to tie Indiana in the final seconds on Monday night, which came when sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. broke off a half-court set and settled for a 25-foot three-point attempt that missed.
?He basically just told me just to keep my confidence. He obviously saw I was frustrated,? Cowan said.
Turgeon isn?t concerned with Cowan burning out over the final nine games, though the sophomore leads the Big Ten in minutes per game (36.1), while sophomore guard Kevin Huerter is third in the league with 33.7 minutes per outing. Those numbers have shot up after Maryland?s roster was reduced to nine scholarship players by season-ending injuries to forwards Justin Jackson and Ivan Bender, and teams have mostly crafted their defensive game-plans around stopping Cowan and Huerter. How those two players coalesce, especially late in games, will be critical over the final stretch of the season.
?One thing we?ve talked about more and more, is learning to trust our teammates, letting other guys make plays,? Huerter said.
Turgeon didn?t need to run down the areas his team must improve in as arena crew members filed in to start setting up for the biggest game of the year on Saturday, but he could have. His team needs to keep Fernando healthy; find more consistent production from center Michal Cekovsky; develop a reliable third scorer behind Cowan and Huerter; take better care of the ball (Maryland is last in the Big Ten in turnover margin at minus-3.2 per game); and defend better, especially from the perimeter, where it has surrendered 67-made three-pointers in the last six games. Those areas will be magnified against two of the top teams in the country over the next four days.
?We have plenty of basketball left,? Turgeon said. ?We?re only halfway through league, and hopefully we can play our best basketball down the stretch.?
