As is true in almost any sport, the Maryland Terrapins appear to have learned much more about themselves in defeat than they ever do in a victory. When you win, the victory is the salve that covers up all wounds, the deodorant that covers up anything that might have, well, stunk.

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

Since their last defeat at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans on January 23rd, the Terps have responded in a way that most teams hope to respond but often times do not.

It wasn’t a bad loss in East Lansing. It’s a difficult place to win. Add to that the fact that Sparty had lost three consecutive games and the fan base was up in arms about a team that had spent three weeks as the consensus number one the month before.

It was the way Maryland lost.

Michigan State came out and took that game. They did so in a way that completely belied those candy-ass lime green jerseys they wore (wtf?). They seemed to get every single loose ball and long rebound when the game was on the line. The rebound margin was 46-36 but it seemed much worse to anybody who watched.

Yet even in taking Michigan’s State’s best shot on their own floor, the Terps had every chance to steal that game in spite of shooting below 40% for the game and below 30% from the three point line. It was a possession game with just over a minute left when Jared Nickens got called for a ghost foul coming around a screen on defense. A foul that was in complete contrast with the bloodletting the officials let happen for the previous two hours.

Maryland stayed in the game with solid ball-handling in the face of Breslin Center hysteria (just 8 turnovers), solid free throw shooting (13-16) and the kind of defense that has, all of a sudden, become among the Nation’s best – at just the right time.

I think a lot of our expectations about this team were misplaced. We assume that, because there is a really capable scorer at each position that this team will light up the scoreboard night in, night out. From time to time it has done just that but it’s the effort on the defensive side of things that will win tough games on the road (Purdue and Indiana await) and grinders in the tournament.

The defensive success has been completely contagious. Guys like Robert Carter and Diamond Stone (neither will ever be compared to Dennis Rodman) have become much better defenders as the season has gone on. Perhaps because he is playing alongside the pit bull that is Rasheed Sulaimon, Jake Layman has actually become a defensive stopper.

Never thought I’d use Jake and “stopper” in the same sentence…

Since the loss at MSU, in the four consecutive Big Ten wins for the Terps (two home, two away) opponents have shot 44% (Iowa), 37% (OSU), 32% (Nebraska) and 40% (Purdue). The Iowa percentage is skewed some by the Hawkeye’s blazing start in that game where they shot 54% in the first half. And still trailed.

An even better stat might be that opponents in those games shot 21 for 88 from three – 23%. The way the game is played these days most offenses will either attack the rim or hoist a three – no mid -range games at all. To have opponents shooting that poorly from three is a huge win.

So you throw in the Bowie State win along with those four conference victories and you’d think you have a team on a roll. A real roll is when you tear off 8 or 9 games straight and have everybody looking up at you at the end of it. The Terps may be about half way there but a huge stretch lies ahead. The Terps have three of the next four at home and will be favored in each. But each game will have its own challenges and story lines.

The Wisconsin Badgers lost a lot of close games early in the season after Greg Gard was named interim head coach. They’re winning them all now and have taken advantage of their schedule to reel off six consecutive wins. Between the confidence gained from that and their style of play the game on Saturday night will be a street fight.

On the other side of the Badgers is a classic trap game at Minnesota. Minnesota has had an awful year by almost any measure but it’s a tough place to play and if you go in there with #2 ranking you just know you’re going to get a good shot from them. At this writing the Golden Gophers remain winless in league play. Eventually they’ll play Rutgers. Somebody will have to win that game.

When you’ve amassed a 22-3 record you’re only going to get so many chances to play a revenge game. The Terps will get one on 2/21 in a nationally televised game against Michigan. I thought the Wolverines played out of their minds in beating the Terps in Ann Arbor in early January. They were great. Motivated, poised and tough. And they still only eked out a three point win.

The keys for this stretch run may well be the play of the Terps in the interior as well as the contributions they get from their bench. Stone and Carter should have a decided advantage in the next two weeks of games. Hopefully they can exploit that.

The Maryland bench remains a bit confounding. Jared Nickens had a huge role in the Maryland win at Nebraska with the three three pointers he nailed but that game remains an exception to the form that has failed him this year. He needs to keep shooting. It’s what shooters do.

As odd as it appeared to be, the Terps may have found a little gold in their friendly against Bowie State. Michal Cekovsky and Jaylen Brantley have been the odd guys out this year. Both of them had breakout games, albeit against lesser competition. If you’re Mark Turgeon, you almost have to force yourself to give these guys minutes (particularly Brantley) in an effort to have the troops fresh in March. Hopefully both can sustain that level of play.

You have to check some boxes to be a good team in the post season. Solid guard play and good to great defense is a terrific start and the Terps are right there now. While it’s a pretty obvious thing, the other thing you need is a very good regular season. Probability tells us that the more favorable seed you have, the more likely you are to advance. A good three weeks right now gives you a top seed in the Big Ten tournament and a greater likelihood of advancing. The higher the seed and the better the performance in Indianapolis, the more likely you are to have a higher seed at the big table in March.

This is no time to coast, even if you are 22-3.

Chris Knoche
Chris Knoche

Terps Analyst

A fixture in the Washington sports scene since his days as a player and a coach, Chris Knoche has accumulated a diverse resume as a media presence in town for more than two decades. That resume has earned him opportunities on both national and local stages and made him a Washington DC staple on radio, television and in digital media.

X