No. 13 Maryland men’s basketball edges out No. 17 Michigan 71-65

Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics

With just a week remaining until the beginning of the Big Ten Tournament, No. 13 Maryland men’s basketball controlled its own destiny. If the Terps were to win their final two games, they’d be a top-four seed with a double-bye in the tournament. 

With its biggest road game of the season against No. 17 Michigan, the Terps took one step closer to clinching that double-bye.

Backed by another big performance from Maryland’s starting five, Maryland (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) edged out No. 17 Michigan (22-8, 14-5) 71-65 on Wednesday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Heading into the contest, both teams featured a stellar combination of bigs — Derik Queen and Julian Reese of the Terps versus Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin of the Wolverines. Goldin and Queen both rank inside the top 200 in the country in scoring, while Wolf, Queen, and Reese all rank top 31 in rebounding. 

Each team’s duo lived up to its high expectations. Queen recorded another double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds), while Wolf and Goldin finished with 20 points. While Reese struggled offensively, he was vitally important on defense, forcing three turnovers and recording two blocks late in the fourth quarter. 

Despite a spotty performance on offense, Maryland’s defense made it tough on Michigan all night. The Terps held the Wolverines to their lowest first-half point total of the season — with 22 — and forced the Big Ten leader in turnovers into 16 giveaways. 

The game started slowly on both ends, but it quickly became a battle of scoring runs, highlighted by the Terps, who outscored Michigan 19-4 in the last eight minutes of the first half. 

In the second half, the game reversed course. Rather than one team getting hot, the game became which team would make fewer mistakes. Despite Michigan turning the ball over on three consecutive possessions at the beginning of the second frame, the Terps could only muster two points. 

Defensively, the Terps remained strong but had no answers for Goldin in the paint. Queen played tight defense all night, but Goldin kept finding ways to score. 

While Maryland struggled to defend in the paint, it played clean. The Terps recorded just 12 fouls all night and only allowed two players, Wolf and Goldin, to reach the free-throw line. 

As the game progressed, the Terps improved on offense. Rodney Rice, who finished as the Terps’ leading scorer with 19 points, once again was the team’s best from three, finishing 4-for-9. Miguel, who has cooled off in a few second halves this season, went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc but still finished with 17 points. 

The Terps will now head to College Park for their final regular season game against Northwestern on Saturday. Depending on how other games play out, if the Terps win, they could finish as the No. 2 seed heading into Indianapolis.