Nebraska & Looking Ahead

With one game (at Nebraska Sunday night, 7:30pm EST) remaining in Maryland’s regular season; the Terrapins are sitting pretty. The Terps will arrive in Lincoln at 25-5 overall, including a 13-4 record in Big Ten play.

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

Past the Nebraska game, the following week will see a trip to Chicago for the Terrapins first ever Big Ten Tournament – where they will have a double-bye and be seeded no worse than 2nd. Then on Selection Sunday (3/15), Maryland will hear it’s name called for the first time since the 2009-10 season. 

Knowing that the Conference and National Tournaments are right around the corner, it’s a little difficult to feign excitement for this upcoming game vs. the Cornhuskers. On the other-hand, the ability of this Terps team to concentrate on the game at hand, is why they figure to be a factor in the Windy City and will be dancing for the first time in years.

Going into Sunday night, Maryland has won 6 in a row, and 7 of 8.  Nebraska (13-16 overall, 5-12 in the Big Ten) has dropped 7 in a row (including at MD Feb. 19th), and 9 of their last 10.

Based on those trends, one might expect an easy MD win. The larger sample tells us that we should probably expect a close game where MD pulls away late. Being that this will be Senior Night for the Cornhuskers – it’s not hard to envision a game where they play with some pride, and push MD a bit. Even with this Terps team being strong at focusing on today, it also would not be shocking if they get caught looking a bit ahead based on their current circumstances.

Harkening back to that game on the 19th, the primary difference (as it has been many times this year for the Terps) was FT shooting. In a 4 point game, Nebraska was just 3 of 7 from the charity stripe, while the Terps were 22 of 25. Beyond that, the other thing which stands out is the defense Dez Wells provided on Nebraska’s leading scorer Terran Petteway (Petteway who averages 17.8 ppg, was limited to 8 points on a 2-14 shooting night).

What will we be looking to see from MD vs. the Cornhuskers?

1) The Terps lost on the boards (33-26) vs. Nebraska that last time out. Would like to see that change this time around.

2) Wells significantly raised his level of play in the last month, with the performance Tuesday at Rutgers being one long highlight reel. From this point forward, everything is about sustaining and building.

3) Michal Cekovsky was a large part of why MD beat Wisconsin. His recent MRI came back without structural damage, but he did dress for the the trip to Rutgers. I could see the Terps deciding to go without him on Sunday; giving him additional time off until the start of the Big Ten Tourney to get right. That said, if he is physically ready to play; I’d like to see him get some time. It was encouraging to see Damonte Dodd come back to life (6 points, 4 boards, 2 blocks) a bit against the Scarlett Knights. Would be good to go into the BTT, with the confidence of these two on the upswing. Be disruptive defensively. Go after boards. Score on put back opportunities. Run the court hard. 4) In the 5 games prior to traveling to Rutgers, Dion Wiley had 0 points on 3 total shots. Can he build off of his 5 point, 4 board outing? Last Saturday vs. Michigan Jared Nickens buried three 3’s. Against Rutgers, he was held scoreless. Maryland’s chances of winning the BTT, and doing some damage in the NCAAT go up significantly if this duo can provide the Terps with some scoring.

Early Thoughts on the Big Ten Tournament

For MD to be the number 1 seed in the BTT, the Terps would have to beat Nebraska Sunday and Wisconsin would have to lose tonight at Minnesota, and Sunday at Ohio State. Going with the assumption that the Badgers will win one of those two games, MD will be the 2nd seed in the BTT.

As the 2nd seed, MD would face the winner of the 7th and 10th seeds Friday the 13th at 6:30pm EST on the Big Ten Network. Currently the 7th seed is Indiana, and the 10th seed is Minnesota. The Hoosiers have lost 3 of their last 4 going into their game Saturday vs. Michigan State. Yogi Ferrell is probably licking his chops somewhere thinking of a third opportunity against the Terps. After losing 3 straight, Minnesota gained an OT victory over the Spartans last Thursday. They’ve now had a week to prepare for their game vs. Wisconsin tonight. Back on January 3rd, the Terps grabbed a 70-58 win vs. the Golden Gophers for their first ever Big Ten home win.  Being the 2nd seed, the goal is of course winning the conference tournament. At the minimum, you would like to get that first game.

(Side note: Back in the game vs. Minnesota, Dodd had 9 points, 12 boards, and 3 blocks. If MD’s big Sophomore can start to get back anywhere near that level, that would be huge.)

Should the Terps get past their opening round game, they would likely be facing the winner of Ohio State and Michigan State for a trip to the BTT Final.  MD has two head-to-head wins vs. the Spartans this year, and was blown out in their trip to Columbus. If it is a choice of seeing one vs. the other; I’d rather see MD get the chance to avenge the loss vs. trying to take down Coach Izzo and MSU for a third time.

If Maryland were to get to the BTT Final, I’d be hoping to see Wisconsin. That’s not a slight at the Badgers, that is a tip of the cap. Wisconsin will be no worse than a 2 seed in the NCAAT, and have a great chance to be a 1. The NCAAT Bracket will be mostly filled out by the time the BTT Final tips off Sunday (the 15th) afternoon – but if MD could cut down the nets; it’s plausible they could make the jump to the 2 line. Beating the Big Ten’s presumed best team for a second time (this time on a neutral court), and getting to hang a banner seems like an ideal way for the Terps to end their first year as a member of the conference. At the worst, it would be another opportunity to measure yourselves against the best prior to the NCAAT.