Feature photo by Greg Fiume and courtesy of Maryland Athletics
When Larry Brown left Kansas for the San Antonio Spurs in 1989, current Maryland Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon remained on the staff as Roy Williams took the helm.
On Tuesday night, Turgeon will seek his first win in eight tries against his former boss. But this time, Turgeon’s Terps are ranked second in the AP poll, seven spots higher than the Tar Heels.
“The only thing I don’t like is I used to work for Williams,” Turgeon said. “You don’t like going against coaches or people that you care about greatly.”
When the Terps take on UNC Tuesday night, it will be more than a tough road test. The game will help the Terps figure out where they stand thus far in the season and what they need to fix.
“I want to know where we are, I want to see where we stand,” Turgeon said. “We gutted it out against Georgetown, now I just want to really kind of see if we’re any good or not.”
The line currently lists No. 9 North Carolina (5-1) as a six-point favorite over the No. 2 Terps (6-0). The two teams will face off at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Entering the game as underdogs brings back memories of last year for point guard Melo Trimble.
“Everyone pretty much doubted us throughout the whole season and going to this game right here,” Trimble said. “Even though we were ranked higher…I think it brings us confidence as a team.”
The Terps will need to muster confidence playing in the Dean Smith Center. To prepare for the rowdy atmosphere, the Terps played loud music during practice this week to simulate crowd noise.
Layman said that if players like freshman center Diamond Stone or transfer guard Jaylen Brantley Jr. need advice playing in a difficult environment, the team’s experienced leaders are prepared to help them.
Guard Rasheed Sulaimon, forward Robert Carter Jr. and Layman have all played in big games, and they’ve each faced the Tar Heels before. Maryland’s younger players, like sophomore guards Jared Nickens and Trimble also played in high pressure environments last year.
The environment isn’t the only factor the Tar Heels have going for them.
Star senior point guard Marcus Paige, who broke his right, non-shooting hand on Nov. 5, will make his season debut for North Carolina. During his absence, the Tar Heels fell to unranked Northern Iowa and dropped eight spots in the polls.
The Tar Heels earned five wins without Paige. Sophomore forward Justin Jackson stepped up, averaging 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game during the stretch. After missing his first nine threes of the season, Jackson hit six of his last 14 over the past three games. Despite Jackson’s hot streak, Paige’s return should still boost the team.
“I know he’s going to bring his A-game so I’m going to bring my A-game,” Trimble said.
While Trimble faces off with Paige, Turgeon anticipates that his team will match up well with the Tar Heels throughout the rotation.
“We have a good idea how we’re going to match up depending on who is in for us,” Turgeon said. “The thing that makes it difficult is they probably have six or seven McDonald’s All-Americans and they’re good players, the reason they’re a preseason number one.”
The Terps also see the Tar Heels’ ability to play big as an advantage, because it will allow Maryland to utilize their taller lineups.
The Tar Heels boast four players 6-foot-8-inches or taller who will see significant playing time and one that is 6-foot-6-inches. Jackson (6-foot-8-inches), forward Brice Johnson (6-foot-9-inches), forward Kennedy Meeks (6-foot-9-inches), forward Isaiah Hicks (6-foot-8-inches) and forward Theo Pinson round out the front court’s rotation.
“We were built for games like this,” Turgeon said. “Rhode Island was a big team, we matched up well with them. We’re as big as [North] Carolina, we’re as long as [North] Carolina, obviously not as talented as [North] Carolina but it should allows us to play our big lineup for forty minutes if we stay out of foul trouble.”
Big men Stone, Carter and Damonte Dodd will need to avoid foul trouble. Each of them average just under three fouls per game. Turgeon said that he will take Stone out of the game after his first foul. Center Michal Cekovsky and Layman both average just under two fouls per game.
Recently, the Terps have struggled early on defense. Against Cleveland State on Friday, Maryland only led by four at the half. The North Carolina game will give Maryland a chance to improve.
“I think just how fast they play and us being able to get back on defense and not giving layups is going to be big for us,” Layman said. “I think if we can stop them in that aspect, we’ll be good.”
The Terps will try to fix their defensive woes and overcome a tough environment Tuesday night. If they can, they’ll secure their seventh victory in as many games. That would make it Turgeon’s second consecutive year with a 7-0 start. It would also be Turgeon’s first win against Williams in eight tries.
Turgeon was under Williams’ wing during the end of his time at Kansas, but on Tuesday, the two coaches lead their teams from opposite ends of the court. Turgeon and the Terps are ready to learn from Williams and the Tar Heels on Tuesday.
“He’ll let us know where we are, where we stand as a team,” Turgeon said. “Georgetown was a heck of a team and we were lucky to win that game and now we’ll get our first road test against a really good team, so we’ll know where we stand tomorrow night after the game.”
Additional reporting by Ethan Cadeaux
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