Terps not overlooking Bucknell following win over Butler
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland (3-0) will host Bucknell (0-3) Nov. 18 in College Park and look to improve its series record against the Bison to 8-0. These two teams met for the first time during the 1976-77 season, and most recently at Xfinity Center in November 2008.
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Bucknell’s season has gotten off to a poor start record wise, but the Bison have played some tough out-of-conference opponents (currently the 34th hardest strength of schedule nationally according to KenPom) and have hung in there against some superior teams. Most recently head coach Nathan Davis’ bunch lost a 12-point affair to North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and prior to that, the Bison played neck-and-neck in the second half with an athletic Arkansas squad that had built a large-enough lead in the first half to secure the win at home.
The biggest reason for any success Bucknell has had this season is 6-foot-7 senior Zach Thomas, who is a stud in the frontcourt for the Bison. So far this season, Thomas is averaging 25.3 points, 10 rebounds, 4.7 3-pointers and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting an efficient 49 percent from the field and an uncanny 52 percent from beyond the arc. What’s even more interesting is that Thomas is a local product, hailing from Ijamsville, Md., and graduating from Oakdale High School.
Thomas has a similar type game to that of Butler leading scorer Kelan Martin, who is also a versatile frontcourt player who can score from all over the court. A combination of Justin Jackson and Morsell held Martin in check in the Terps matchup with Butler, and Terps head coach Mark Turgeon might have to use a similar multi-body approach Saturday night to stop Thomas.
“Zach’s having one heck of year, isn’t he? Twenty five [points] a game and 10 rebounds a game, those are just amazing numbers, and that’s against at Monmouth, at Arkansas, and at North Carolina,” Turgeon said. “We’ll throw a lot of different people at Zach. The difference between him and the Martin kid is he probably shoots it a little bit better, shoots it a little bit deeper. He just plays at a really good pace. So we all have to be aware of him. If he is going to get 25 points, we have to make him do it on 20 shots, not 25 points on 10 shots; that would be a rough night for us. We’ll put a lot into trying to slow him down as best we can.”
But the Terps have plenty of firepower of their own. Sophomore Anthony Cowan led all scorers with 25 points in Maryland’s 14-point win over Butler Wednesday night while securing his first career double-double by also grabbing 10 rebounds.
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Maryland’s freshmen duo of Darryl Morsell and Bruno Fernando also shined against the Bulldogs and the future appears bright in College Park. Fernando and Morsell made a major impact on both ends of the floor for the Terps and combined for 21 points (10-for-15 FG%), five rebounds, three assists and three blocks against Butler.
Redshirt junior Dion Wiley, who finally worked his way back into Maryland’s starting lineup after missing most of the last two seasons with various injuries, and senior big man Michal Cekovsky also added to the Terps’ offensive production. Wiley chipped in 11 points (three 3-pointers) in his 30 minutes on the court, while Cekovsky posted nine points and two blocks in 19 minutes of action.
As a team, Maryland also played stifling defense against Butler, holding the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and blocking seven shots.
But after a big out-of-conference victory for his squad, Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon isn’t concerned about a letdown performance against Bucknell on Saturday.
“I think it’s so early in the year that you’re still fired up to just play games,” Turgeon said. “I can’t imagine a letdown. I’d like to think our building is going to be good again. We have a good product and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. I’d like to think they’re going to come back out. And I have a ton of respect for Bucknell. Our thought of the day was mental toughness, to be mentally tough enough to do it again. So we worked the guys and we had a terrific practice [Friday] and we were really dialed into our game plan. Are we going to play as well? I don’t know because we were pretty good the other night. But I expect us to play well.”
Turgeon went with a small starting lineup against Butler that consisted of Cowan, Kevin Huerter, Wiley, Justin Jackson, and Cekovsky. With Bucknell’s tallest contributor measuring in at 6-foot-8, Turgeon said there’s a good chance he goes with the same strategy.
“I think matchups wise we’re going to have to start a small lineup,” Turgeon said. “I’m not sure who it’s going to be yet but I think we’re going to have to do that to match up with that group.”
Bucknell plays at a relatively fast pace compared to the Terps and mostly tries to make up for its poor defense with a strong offensive attack. The Bison will have their hands full with the Terps Saturday night. Maryland’s average margin of victory at Xfinity Center so far this season is 33.5 points and the Terps enter the game with one of the most balanced teams in the country, ranking 44th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 27th in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.