Terps Get Back In The Win Column; What Lies Ahead

It took a game against an opponent they typically have success against for the Terps to get back in the win column, but they got a W nonetheless when Maryland hosted Minnesota on Sunday night.

The Terps completed a season sweep of the Golden Gophers and have now won six straight against Minnesota dating back to the 2017-18 season. It was a win that came just in time, as Maryland was riding a two-game losing streak and risked falling below .500 for the first time this season.

Maryland jumped out to an early lead on Minnesota and never relinquished it after going up 5-3 thanks to an Eric Ayala three just two minutes into the game. The Terps built their lead as high as 19 in the first half and went into the locker room at halftime up 44-28 in what was perhaps their most impressive 20 minutes of the season.

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Ayala scored all his buckets on Sunday night from beyond the arc (4-for-5) and finished with 12 points and six rebounds. He was joined by Aaron Wiggins (game-high 17 points), Darryl Morsell (13), and Galin Smith (10) as Maryland’s double-digit scorers against Minnesota.

Wiggins had one of his most efficient scoring outings of the season, shooting 6-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from three.

“We were definitely locked in from the jump,” Wiggins said after the game. “Guys were locked in defensively. That’s always been our emphasis this season. When we’re locked in defensively, we’re a really good team even when things can’t get going offensively. But tonight everything was kind of clicking for us. In the first half, we made shots, we were able to execute plays, and defensively we were really good. We were able to carry that over into the second half and our energy kept us going.”

Wiggins was one of the many Terps that benefited from the stat-stuffing performance of Smith, who added five rebounds and four assists to his 10 points against the Golden Gophers. In what was perhaps Smith’s most impressive overall performance to date as a Terp, his much-needed post presence and sound decision-making opened up Maryland’s offense and helped propel his team to a victory.

“I thought [Smith] played great,” Wiggins said. “His post presence was really good for us in the first half, and even in the first half he was able to get their big in foul trouble. So he was dominant in the post and his presence was really big for us.

“In the first half, he had one pass to me in the corner where out of the post they kind of doubled and you could tell that he was locked in and ready to make plays for our team to win. Every time we gave him the ball in the post and they doubled or somebody helped too much he made the right plays and that’s really big for us to have his post presence and he’s also making the right plays. So his effort tonight was really good for us.”

While the offense was clicking in what was Maryland’s highest-scoring output in a Big Ten win this season, it was the Terps’ reliable defense that proved to be the biggest difference maker.

Minnesota was held to just 32% shooting as a team and struggled to get their leading scorer Marcus Carr going thanks to some stifling defense from Morsell, who always takes pride in matching up on the other team’s best guard. Carr finished with just nine points — his second-lowest output of the season — on 4-for-15 shooting (1-for-6 from three).

“Probably Darryl Morsell was most of it. Darryl really likes guarding [Carr].. He takes on the challenge,” Turgeon said. “He uses his height against him. He didn’t give him a lot of good looks…But credit Darryl, credit our transition defense, credit our ball-screen defense, and all of our guys being aware of him.”

What lies ahead…

The Terps are now gearing up for back-to-back home games on consecutive days against Nebraska on Feb. 16 and 17.

The two-game homestand on back-to-back nights is historic for Maryland, as it’s the first matchup against the same opponent on two consecutive nights since 1949 at Miami, and it’s the first time this has happened in College Park since 1927 against North Carolina.

Maryland was previously supposed to play the Cornhuskers Jan. 16, but the game was postponed due to health and safety protocols within the Nebraska program.

Much like its matchup with MInnesota, Maryland has fared well recently against the Cornhuskers. The Terps are 7-3 all-time against Nebraska and have won three of the last four meetings.

At 1-9 in conference play, Nebraska sits in last place in the Big Ten and presents Maryland with two very winnable games. If the Terps can sweep the Cornhuskers and use that momentum to spark a late-season run, they could find themselves in a position where they don’t exactly have to sweat out Selection Sunday.

With Rutgers falling out of the AP Top 25 poll this week, the Terps should be free of facing any ranked opponents for the remainder of the regular season. Five of their six games left are against teams currently below them in conference standings.

KenPom predicts Maryland to win five of its last six games with a 70% chance or better to win three of them. If the Terps want to go dancing come March, now’s the time to get it going. Perhaps their frontloaded gauntlet of a schedule will be just what prepares this team to make a push here in the final weeks of the regular season.

Time will tell. But if the Terps do make the NCAA Tournament, it will have to be with momentum on their side after closing out the season strong. And a team that has momentum and plays defense consistently can be a scary draw come March.