Ranking Maryland’s Non-Conference Games

Practices for the upcoming season have already begun, meaning that it won’t be long before reports of what happened at “not-so-secret” scrimmages start to leak via message boards and social media. A quick note on these before getting into the actual point of this post: very rarely are these scrimmages played in a straightforward, 40-minute manner.

These scrimmages give coaches the ability to evaluate different lineups, offensive sets and defensive schemes against outside competition, and there will be times in which they decide to “run things back” in order to drill into their teams how they want to attack certain situations. So while there won’t be a shortage of reports on who “won” these scrimmages and by how much, keep in mind that the result isn’t always “saying” what the outcome of an actual game would.

Now that I’ve gotten that off of my chest, let’s take a look at Maryland’s non-conference schedule for the 2019-20 season. With the Big Ten making the move to 20 league games ahead of the 2017-18 season, two December dates that normally would have been available are now off the table. Maryland’s two early conference games: Illinois at home on December 7, followed by a trip up to Happy Valley three days later to take on Penn State. That left Maryland with nine slots to fill, with one going to an in-season tournament.

Mark Turgeon’s team, which is considered to be a Top-10 worthy outfit by more than a few pundits, will play in the Orlando Classic Thanksgiving weekend, one of just two trips away from home that Maryland will take during non-conference play. Below is a ranking of the Terps’ nine non-conference games (counting the Orlando Classic as one, since we don’t know the opponents outside of Temple), beginning with a road trip that could rank among the best non-conference games in all of college basketball.

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1) Seton Hall (road; December 19)

While Xavier was able to pull off the feat a couple seasons ago, the biggest question regarding the Big East Conference in the post-realignment era has been who can dethrone Villanova. There are a couple contenders for that label this season, one being Kevin Willard’s Pirates. Seton Hall has gone to the NCAA tournament each of the last five seasons, and on paper this group sets up to be the best that Willard has coached during his time in South Orange. It all starts with senior guard Myles Powell, one of the best guards in college basketball. Last season he posted averages of 23.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and has been named a preseason first team All-American by many major publications.

Powell leads a loaded list of returnees, with guards Myles Cale and Quincy McKnight and forward Sandro Mamukelashvili also back. Of the players who were part of the rotation last season only one, Michael Nzei, has exhausted his eligibility. The additions of Florida State transfer Ike Obiagu and Tyrese Samuel give the Pirates two more bodies in the post, which will mean more minutes for Mamukelashvili at the power forward position. While Seton Hall can take pride in its current NCAA tournament streak, the program has not reached the second weekend since 2000. This group is more than capable of ending the dry spell, and will be very tough opponent for Maryland.

2) Orlando Invitational (November 28-29, December 1)

The Terps will be spending Thanksgiving weekend at Walt Disney World, with Temple being the opening round opposition. While the Owls return five of the top seven scorers from a team that won 23 games and reached the NCAA tournament last season, this is a dawn of a new era in Philadelphia. Fran Dunphy has retired, and Temple alum Aaron McKie (who was an assistant under Dunphy) has taken over as head coach. He’ll lead a roster headlined by the likes of senior guard Quinton Rose, who’s underrated nationally, and juniors Nate Pierre-Louis and J.P. Moorman. Temple will be one of the better teams in the American this season, and this is a matchup that Maryland should not overlook. Also on this side of the bracket are Texas A&M and Harvard, with the Crimson projected by some to be the class of the Ivy League.

USC/Fairfield and Davidson/Marquette are the matchups on the other half of the bracket, with the Trojans boasting a possible lottery pick in freshman big Onyeka Okongwu. As for the other matchup, two of the nation’s best guards will be on display in Davidson’s Kellan Grady and Marquette’s Markus Howard. Maryland and Marquette are the on-paper favorites in this event, but in-season tournaments can offer up some surprises on the way to the final.

3) Notre Dame (home; December 4)

The 2018-19 season was a difficult season for Mike Brey’s Fighting Irish. Rex Pflueger was lost for the season after just ten games, and that injury spelled doom for the program as Notre Dame went 14-19 overall with a 3-15 record in ACC play. Pflueger is back for his fifth year, and should combine with point guard Temple Gibbs to form one of the better tandems in the ACC. Add in senior John Mooney and redshirt juniors Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo, and a group of sophomores who went through a “trial by fire” of sorts last season, and this is an experienced group that has all the talent needed to bounce back in 2019-20.

Notre Dame may not be mentioned that much in discussions of which teams can win the ACC, but they won’t be far off the pace. There are far worse matchups that Maryland could have drawn for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Oh, there’s also the DeMatha angle (Brey both played for and was an assistant to Morgan Wooten) that’s bound to be mentioned in advance of this game.

4) Rhode Island (home; November 9)

Maryland’s second regular season game sets up to be a challenging — and entertaining — affair as Rhode Island visits the Xfinity Center. After winning 51 games in the final two seasons of Dan Hurley’s tenure as head coach the Rams won 18 in their first season under David Cox, and this roster is set up to challenge in the Atlantic 10. Six of the top seven scorers from last year’s team return, led by guards Jeff Dowtin and Fatts Russell and power forward Cyril Langevine. Joining a solid, experienced core is a recruiting class consisting of guard Gregory Hammond and forwards Mekhi Long and Jacob Toppin (the young brother of Dayton forward Obi Toppin). While 2018-19 was a down season for the Atlantic 10 on a national scale look for that conference to bounce back, and Rhode Island is one of the reasons why that will be the case. This is a tricky matchup for Maryland, not just because of the talent of the opposition but also because it comes before a seven-day break.

5) Oakland (home; November 16)

One week after hosting Rhode Island, Greg Kampe’s Golden Grizzlies will visit College Park. Oakland, which finished the 2018-19 season with a 16-17 overall record (11-7 Horizon League), returns three starters from that team led by redshirt seniors Xavier Hill-Mais (a first team all-Horizon selection) and Brad Brechting. Hill-Mais and Brechting combined to average 27.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game last season, and they bring some size to the table. Hill-Mais is listed at 6-foot-7, 261 pounds, with Brechting checking in at 6-foot-11, 240 pounds. Given their production and what Oakland lost on the perimeter, it’s safe to assume that those two bigs will figure prominently in the offensive game plan.

On the perimeter sophomore guard Tray Maddox Jr. is the most noteworthy returnee, and he averaged just 6.4 points per game. How Oakland accounts for the loss of guards Jaevin Cumberland, Braden Norris (both starters) and Karmari Newman will go a long way towards determining just how good the Golden Grizziles can be. Oakland has ten newcomers on its roster, with JUCO transfers Kevin Kangu and Daniel Oladipo expected to be immediate contributors.

6) George Mason (home; November 22)

Dave Paulsen’s Patriots finished the 2018-19 season with an 18-15 record, going 11-7 in Atlantic 10 play. Three starters return from that team, senior guard Justin Kier, junior guard Javon Greene and sophomore guard Jordan Miller. That perimeter experience is expected to help the Patriots account for the graduation of guard Otis Livingston, a player who contributed to George Mason’s success in a variety of ways. Also back are contributors such as senior guard Ian Boyd and junior forward Greg Calixte, but this is a roster that’s lacking in size. The tallest player on the roster: 6-foot-9 freshman Josh Oduro. That being said, the Patriots are capable of giving Maryland some difficulty because of the talent/experience on the perimeter.

7) Bryant (home; December 29)

Entering his second season at the helm, Bryant head coach Jared Grasso is expected to have an improved team in 2019-20. The Bulldogs went 10-20 last season, finishing eighth in the NEC and grabbing the final spot in the conference tournament. They gave top seed Saint Francis University all it wanted before falling by four, and seven players are back from that team led by all-NEC third team selections Adam Grant and SaBastian Townes. Those two combined to average 30.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 2018-19, and forward Juan Cardenas is another key contributor who will be back. What will also help the Bulldogs is the return of redshirt junior guard Ikenna Ndugba, who after averaging 13.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 2017-18 sat out last season due to a shoulder injury.

Add to the returnees eight newcomers including JUCO transfers Ayo Dada and Hall Elisias (who began his career at LIU-Post before transferring to New Mexico JC), and the Bulldogs should be one of the better teams in the NEC. This game may not do much for Maryland’s computer numbers come March, but it is one where if things break right for Bryant in NEC play the Terps could have a win over an NCAA tournament team on its profile.

8) Fairfield (home; November 19)

Fairfield will begin this season with a new coach, as Jay Young (Steve Pikiell’s top assistant at both Stony Brook and Rutgers) was hired to replace Sydney Johnson during the offseason. Young takes over a team that won just nine games last season (six in MAAC play), but he won’t be working with an empty cupboard. Three of the top five scorers from that team, led by senior guard Landon Taliaferro, return and a couple key upperclassmen (guard Jesus Cruz and forward Wassef Methnani) were contributors on the 2017-18 team that reached the MAAC tournament final before falling to Iona. Accounting for the departures of double-digit scorers Neftali Alvarez and Jonathan Kasibabu won’t be easy, and it will require both Cruz and Methnani to figure more prominently in the Stags’ offense.

9) Holy Cross (home; November 5)

Maryland will open its regular season with a game against a program playing for a new head coach, as former Marquette assistant (and former Florida point guard) Brett Nelson was hired to replace the retired Bill Carmody this offseason. The Crusaders finished last season with a 16-17 overall record, finishing tenth in the Patriot League, and three of the top four scorers from that team have moved on. The exception: junior guard Austin Butler, who started 32 games and averaged 12.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He and junior forward Matt Faw are the most productive returnees for Holy Cross, and with just one senior on the roster this projects to be a rebuilding year for the Crusaders.