Maryland leads wire-to-wire in 73-55 win over Michigan State

Maryland (15-10, 9-9 Big Ten) got out to a fast start Sunday versus Michigan State (13-10, 7-10), opening the contest on an 11-0 run and leading wire-to-wire in an impressive 73-55 win over a red-hot Spartans squad, extending their win streak to five games.

“Obviously really proud of my guys,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said. “They were dialed in yesterday in practice, you could see it coming. Our defense was terrific, they were dialed into the personnel and who we had to guard, how we had to guard and did a great job. Did a great job on [Aaron] Henry all night, doubling him and different things, we flew around and we made a step defensively boxing out. We were physical, challenged the guys to be physical and don’t get shoved around. It’s not your typical Michigan State team, they were playing four guards so they usually play bigger and stronger, so a little bit easier to rebound against that lineup than typical teams but that’s their best team right now.”

The Terps were led once again by the junior backcourt duo of Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins. Ayala finished with a game-high 22 points, while Wiggins poured in 13 points of his own. Both guards also pulled down six rebounds apiece.

“Eric Ayala, was his best all-around game since he’s been here. He guarded, boxed out, made shots, ran the team, scored, made free-throws, he was terrific. Lot of guys played really well, we got more guys playing better really helping us. You just see our confidence growing,” said Turgeon.

Senior guard Darryl Morsell, who was day-to-day leading up to Sunday according to head coach Mark Turgeon, got the start and scored the Terps’ first five points of the game with a made three and a pair of free throws. He finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block while leading a stifling defensive effort.

“Really proud of Darryl,” Turgeon said. “Darryl didn’t practice all week. I lost sleep last night, like I shouldn’t play him. Woke up this morning and he said he was feeling really good, wanted to give it a go and shoulder was great the whole game.”

Maryland held Michigan State to just 33 percent shooting from the field for the game, including just 8-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Trailing by 10 at the half, Michigan State was able to cut the Terps’ lead to five midway through the second half, but sophomore guard Hakim Hart had a strong driving layup past Michigan State guard Rocket Watts to put the Terps back up seven.

Hart, who’s been thrown into a starting point guard role, had one of his best performances of the season, finishing with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists. Along with the big driving layup, Hart also knocked down a timely three-pointer from the top of the key with just over five minutes remaining to put the Terps back up by double digits for good.

“[We] started playing him at point and he’s been great with it,” Turgeon said of Hart. “Players love him, respect him and they’re encouraging him to play with more toughness. He stepped up, made a three early, shot another three at half that looked good and then, like you said, made the layup which was a tough shot. He’s been working on that, you can see it coming in practice and then the big three late, which was terrific. He’s a big-time shooter, we recruited him because of his shooting and we recruited him because he was a great passer and it’s kind of all coming together now.”

Michigan State was led by Joshua Langford, who finished with 12 points. The Spartans were coming off back-to-back wins last week over Top-5 opponents in Illinois and Ohio State.

The Terps will travel to Northwestern Wednesday for their final road game of the season before returning home Sunday to close out the regular season versus Penn State.