With yesterday’s win in Ann Arbor, the University of Maryland Terrapins are 14-2 overall, 2-1 in the Big Ten. On Tuesday night (9PM, ESPN) the Terps host Indiana.

Here we take a look at some numbers of note through Maryland’s first 16 games of this 2016-17 season.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

1) Only seven Terps (Trimble, Jackson, Cowan, Huerter, Brantley, Gill, and Nickens) have played in all 16 games. Bender has appeared in 15. Wiley has been in 13. Cekovsky and Dodd have both been limited to 9.

2) Four players (Trimble, Jackson, Cowan, Cekovsky) are averaging 10+ points per game. Cekovsky, Cowan, and Jackson are all averaging between 10.0 and 10.8 per game, Trimble is at 17.5 per.

3) Jackson leads MD in rebounds per game at 5.9 over 26.6 minutes per. Dodd is second at 5.0 in just 17.4 per game. This is a big jump for Dodd from last year where he averaged 2.7 boards in 15.6 minutes per game. Huerter is averaging a healthy 4.8. The most interesting individual rebounding number is Cowan at 4.3 in his 29.2 minutes per game.

4) Trimble averaged 33.5 minutes per game as a Freshman. That dropped to 32.8 last year. This year the Junior is playing 31.3 minutes per.

5) As a Freshman, Trimble averaged 6.9 Free Throw Attempts per game. After dropping to 5.1 attempts last year, that has climbed back up to 5.8 so far here in 2016-17. The downside is that his FT% is slightly lower (83%) vs. the last two years.

6) Other interesting numbers with Trimble? He’s currently got the highest FG% (47%) of his career, while also averaging the most FG Attempts (11.6 per) of his career. His 3 point % is way up from last year (37% vs. 31%). In addition to his decreased FT%, another negative so far this season is his Assist to Turnover Ratio.  The assists being down with him playing off the ball more is understandable, but 2.9 assists to 3.1 turnovers isn’t what you want to see.

7) Maryland got four 3’s from Nickens yesterday at Michigan. This helped him increase his 3 point % for the year to 33%. He made 39% of his attempts two years ago as a Freshman. Sure would be nice if he consistently found his stroke the remainder of the year.  From the floor overall, he’s making just 27% of his shots, and has only 6 FT attempts on the season. After averaging 19+ minutes in each of his first two seasons, Nickens has been limited to 12.1 minutes per game as a Junior.

8) L.G. Gill averaged 30 minutes per game with Duquesne last year. In those minutes he produced 10.1 ppg, with 6.5 boards. He took 4.5 3 point attempts per.  I didn’t expect him to have that level of production this year. Don’t think anyone did. He was stepping up in the competition he would face, and he would be going from being a focal point of his team, to being rotational depth. Still, I did expect him to be a larger part of this 2016-17 Maryland team. He attempted 154 shots beyond the arc last year (shooting 34%). He is 1 for 3 from 3 this year. Okay, this Terps team needs him to be more of a contributor inside vs. Duquesne did – but he’s only providing 2.5 rebounds in his 14.2 minutes per. For me, his best game of the year was his 6 points and 7 boards vs. Illinois. He played with some energy, and was active on the glass. That would be what I would be asking for him to provide the remainder of the way.

9) Wiley has scored 13 points in two different games (Stony Brook, and Jacksonville State) this year. He also added 9 against Illinois. The wrist injury has to be somewhat significant. He did not play against Charlotte. Had 14 minutes vs. Illinois, but was limited to 4 against Nebraska, and did not play yesterday vs. Michigan. While I’m curious to see what he bring offensively (He is 6 for his last 9 from 3) if he can stay on the court, I think where Maryland will really need him over the 2nd half of the season is with his defense. They need him to become the lock-down defender he was being touted as prior to his injury. A bigger body than guys like Trimble, Cowan, and Brantley, who can be asked to defend true 2’s and 3’s on the perimeter.

10) Jackson has scored in double figures in 8 of Maryland’s 16 games.

11) Jackson has had at-least 7 boards in 6 games. Five of those 7 or more board games, came in Maryland’s first 6 games of the season.

12) Cowan is 12 of 40 (30%) from 3 for the year. He’s averaging 5.5 Free Throw Attempts per. Cowan has scored in double figures 9 times. He has a 3.8 to 2.4 assist to turnover ratio.

13) Huerter has scored in double figures in 5 games. He’s been held to 6 or under 9 times. Having made 9 of his last 16 from behind the arc, Huerter is now shooting 36% from 3.

14) Huerter has only 12 FT attempts in nearly 27 minutes per game. That includes just 4 attempts in his last 7 games.

15) Brantley has played in more minutes (266) this year, than last year (259). His minutes per game have basically doubled. He has scored in double figures 4 times. After 13 points in 20 minutes vs. Illinois, he’s scored just 4 points in 24 combined minutes vs. Nebraska and Michigan.

16) In Maryland’s two losses (Pittsburgh & Nebraska), Bender had 0 points in both games, over a combined 26 minutes. Bender has 6 games with at-least 7 points.

17) Cekovsky has made 68% of his FG attempts this  year. In his 9 games, he’s scored in double figures 6 times. He’s scored at-least 15 3 times. He missed the first 4 games of the season, and has now missed the first 3 games of Big Ten play.

18) Maryland is 132nd Nationally in scoring at 76.1 ppg. The Terps are 145th in rebounding (37.4 per). Despite having multiple PGs on the floor, Maryland is just 214th Nationally in assists per (13.2). Defensively, the Terrapins hold the opposition to 65.3 points per game, which is good enough for 46th Nationally.

19) Maryland is shooting 36% from 3 for the season after Saturday. Through Jan. 5th, Maryland was at 34.6%, good for 198th Nationally.

20) The Terps are averaging 71% from the FT line after Saturday. Through Jan. 5th, good for 136th Nationally.

21) As of this morning, the Terrapins come in 56th Nationally in the Ken Pomeroy Rankings. In Adjusted Offense, Maryland is 77th. In Adjusted Defense, the Terps are 54th. The Adjusted Tempo is 171st.

22) Maryland (through Jan. 5th) was 141st in Turnovers Forced, 35th in 3pt FG% Defense, 124th in Rebound Margin, 25th in FT Attempts, 42nd in Total Blocks, 261st in Total Steals.

23) The teams which have beat MD – Pittsburgh & Nebraska – come in at 55th, and 83rd respectfully in the Pomeroy Rankings.

24) Maryland’s five best wins are Kansas State (29th), Oklahoma State (35th), Michigan (39th), Georgetown (62nd), and Richmond (129th).

25) Tuesday’s opponent Indiana is 27th. Maryland has two games remaining vs.each of Iowa (80th), Minnesota (33rd), Rutgers (138th), and Ohio State (48th). They have single remaining games at Illinois (70th), Purdue (15th), at Penn State (85th), at Northwestern (44th), at Wisconsin (11th), and vs. Michigan State (47th).

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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