Maryland men’s basketball (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten) will play on day two of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday after potentially having a shot at a double-bye. But after losing its last two games of the season, the Terps will face either Minnesota (8-21, 2-17 Big Ten) or Nebraska (16-15, 9-11 Big Ten) in the second round of the conference tournament.
Before their final two-game stretch, the Terps were a ranked team for the first time in months, coming in at No. 21 in the AP poll. But that was before their road fears came to life in some very unfortunate ways.
First, a trip to Columbus to face off against Ohio State was the first challenge the Terps faced. The Buckeyes managed to silence Maryland’s leading scorer in graduate student guard Jahmir Young, holding him to just nine points on 4-13 shooting. Despite sophomore forward Julian Reese going for 17 points and 12 rebounds, Ohio State had six players score in double digits and went a perfect 20-20 from the free throw line. Ohio State comfortably won, 73-62.
Then, Maryland closed out the regular season against Penn State with a chance to secure a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State got off to a subpar offensive start, and the Terps were up by double digits even in the second half. But the Nittany Lions finished the regular season on a 17-5 run, which ended with a putback from graduate student guard Camren Wynter right before the buzzer to take down the Terps, 65-64.
Maryland coach Kevin Willard described that the locker room after the Penn State loss was filled with people yelling and being upset, which he actually favored.
“I loved how disappointed we were after the game… their heart was into it, they wanted it, knew what was at stake,” Willard said. “I think when you have that much buy in, and kids care that much, that’s a good thing.”
Reese also believed the heated locker room wasn’t that harmful, because everyone on the team has the same goal in mind.
“We let that happen, we let everyone express how they feel, and then we just get back in the lab and get to work,” Reese said.
After these games, Maryland is currently unranked and is the No. 6-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning the Terps must play in the second round against either Nebraska or Minnesota.
Maryland played both potential teams twice during the regular season. The Terps went 3-1 in those games, losing only once in an overtime game to Nebraska, 70-66.
When it comes to the Cornhuskers, a few of their key contributors have given the Terps some serious trouble this season.
Senior forward Derrick Walker has been able to attack the Terps and score on the inside in both games. Walker had 16 points and eight rebounds as the team’s leading scorer in game one, and in game two, Walker had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the way. He’s a big part of the team’s offense, being a part of a lot of pick and rolls as well as just getting the ball at the top of the key and going downhill to the basket.
Junior guard Keisei Tominaga is a crafty shotmaker, who has turned up his scoring to end the regular season. He scored over 20 points in six of his last eight games, and is shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range this season. While he only scored three points in the first game against Maryland, he only took three shots. In game two, Tominaga scored 20 and hit a big three in overtime.
For Minnesota, the offense runs through sophomore forward Dawson Garcia. He wasn’t healthy the first time Maryland played Minnesota, but in the second game scored 15 points on 6-13 shooting and grabbed 8 boards. Freshman forward Pharrel Payne has given the Terps problems as well, scoring 14 in game one and 17 points off the bench in game two.
The Golden Gophers have been the worst team in the conference all season, and lost the first matchup against Maryland by 35, and the second one by 18. But it’ll be important to focus on locking up the big guys for Minnesota in order for Maryland to ensure a victory.
Starting Maryland’s potential conference tournament journey at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Willard talked about the important things to know when coaching these conference tournaments, having won the Big East Conference Championship with Seton Hall in 2016.
“The biggest thing is adjusting to the next [game]; if you win your game, being able to adjust the next day,” Willard said.
