Preview: Maryland looking to bounce back at home versus No. 9 Michigan
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Returning home after perhaps its worst game of the season, No. 17 Maryland (21-8, 12-6 Big Ten) will look to bounce back and remain unbeaten in College Park in conference play this year when the Terps host No. 9 Michigan (25-4, 14-4) March 3 at Xfinity Center.
The Terps were stunned on the road by Penn State Feb. 27, losing by 17 to the Nittany Lions in a game Maryland never led. Some home cooking couldn’t come at a better time for head coach Mark Turgeon’s team, as it welcomes an even more formidable opponent and hopes to learn from its mistakes in its most recent outing.
“We’ve moved on,” Turgeon said. “We left it in the locker room. We left it on the bus when we dropped them off that night and we’ve moved forward. We’ve practiced well. We’ve had a really good season with such a young team. We laid an egg. But if we can’t get fired up to come home and play our last two home games and be a part of some postseason tournaments, there’s something wrong. So I think in the end it’s going to be a blessing for us that we went through that and it showed the last two days in practice where we’ve worked really hard. I do think we’ve improved the last two days. We’ve worked on some things and I think it’s going to help us [Sunday] and down the road.”
Sunday afternoon will mark the second time the Terps and Wolverines have squared off this season with Michigan taking a 13-point win in Ann Arbor just over two weeks ago. But Maryland was able to take away some key aspects of its last meeting with the Maize and Blue and hopes to deploy that knowledge to its advantage in a game that could be crucial to the Terps’ chances of receiving a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
“They’re really big, they’re really long, and they’re grown men,” Turgeon said. “You’ll see tomorrow when their starting five walks on the floor. They’re grown men. They’re extremely well-coached. Because of their length and size, they’re able to switch screens. [Jon] Teske is probably one of the best on-ball defenders in our league, along with Bruno [Fernando]. He does a terrific job.
“And then they don’t turn it over so their defense is never compromised. They’re good. Michigan is good. We all know that. There’s a reason they’re ranked No. 9 in the country. But we’re looking forward to playing them. We felt like in the second half there we played a little bit better and gave ourselves a chance. We learned how to play a little bit better against their defense so we’ll see if that helps us tomorrow.”
Michigan is known as one of the best defensive teams in college basketball, ranking third nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom. The Terps saw this firsthand in Ann Arbor and now better understand how to penetrate a defense that few teams have been able to figure out.
“It’s just finding the right spots to attack them,” Terps sophomore wing Darryl Morsell said. “They’re really good defensively. They’re long. They switch a lot of screens and stuff. So just finding the right matchups and just picking when to attack and making the right play at the attack is what we have to do.”
On the other end of the floor, Maryland struggled to stop Michigan in the first meeting between these two teams, especially when it came to getting back on transition defense and stopping the ball.
But the Terps have put a strong emphasis on improving their transition defense since that game and are hoping to show the fruits of their labor against the Wolverines on Sunday.
“Just being locked in defensively,” Terps freshman wing Aaron Wiggins said. “We had a bad transition type game at Michigan. Defensively we weren’t getting back, we weren’t talking and we weren’t matched up with our guys.That’s one thing we’ve put a big emphasis on in the last few games, just making sure we’re all locked in and know who we’re guarding and we know where each other is in the open court.”
Wiggins was arguably the Terps' lone bright spot Wednesday night at Penn State, coming off the bench to score 11 points while also grabbing five rebounds and adding a pair of assists. The North Carolina native typically enters the game for Morsell, who has played the role of defensive specialist for Maryland this year, but with the Terps struggling to get going early as of late, Turgeon has left the door open for a potential lineup change that we could see as early as Sunday.
“I think [Wiggins] is comfortable where he is, but we’ve talked about [starting him],” Turgeon said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to make a change because as a coach you have to keep trying to make your team better, especially such a young team with so much talent. So that’s what we’re trying to do. But right now I think he’s comfortable where he is, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to change.”
The slow starts are something Maryland must avoid to beat a team as talented and well-coached as Michigan. Falling into an early hole against a team that plays defense like the Wolverines do could make what many expect to be a tight game into a blowout if the Terps aren’t careful.
“We’ve talked about it a lot,” Turgeon said. “We’re just hoping that we come out [Sunday] and put it behind us. It’s funny because we start the second half with the same team and we’ve been pretty good at starting the second half. So hopefully [Sunday] because of the energy in the building we’ll start better.”
A raucous atmosphere at Xfinity Center could go a long way for the Terps on Sunday, along with the recent memory of their debacle in Happy Valley, which has Maryland on its toes and ready to rebound from that performance in front of its home crowd.
“[The loss to Penn State] was kind of humbling, so I feel like we’re hungry and we’ll be ready to play [Sunday],” Morsell said.
Tip-off in College Park between No. 17 Maryland and No. 9 Michigan is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on CBS.