Maryland men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard won the hearts of the fanbase with an impressive 8-0 start. After regaining national attention and a home win over Big His Ten contender Illinois, he climbed to No. 13 in the AP polls.
But in the three games that followed, the Terps splattered to Earth. Maryland lost him 64-59 in their next game in Wisconsin, placing him 17th in the AP polls. On the next trip, Terps showed enthusiasm at his center against the Barclays in Brooklyn, New York, coming back from 21 downs for him and taking the last chance to win or draw the game in a 56–53 loss.
The Terps’ “emotional gas tank,” which was on a two-game losing streak at the time, ran out of gas on December 14 against the Bruins, as UCLA head coach Mick Cronin explained. A hard-line opponent out of the conference, they never held the lead in an embarrassing 87-60 defeat.
The Terps are ending their eight-day break from the UCLA loss. Maryland is still well positioned on its non-conference resume, but will have to prove itself again as the new year approaches.
For now, Maryland must regroup with an easy win against last year’s NCAA Tournament Darling St. Peters, who have a very different look for the 2022-23 season. The teams will play Thursday night at 6:30 pm at Big Ten Network’s College Park.
St. Peter’s Peacocks (6-5, 1-2 MAAC)
Former St. Peters head coach Shaheen Holloway left the program after Cinderella advanced to the 2022 Elite Eights to replace his close friend and current Maryland head coach Willard at Seton Hall. did. It’s new to step into Peacocks Head Coach Bashir Masondid an impressive job with Wagner, leading the Seahawks to three NEC regular season championships from 2013-22.
In addition to losing Holloway, the Peacocks have replaced many old faces from last year’s team. Starting point guard Matthew Lee moved to Missouri, starting two guard Daryl Banks moved to St. Bonaventure, twins Hassan and Husseini Drum moved to LaSalle, and starting power forward KC Ndefo moved to Holloway. He then moved to Seton Hall, and starting center Clarence Rupert moved to Southern. Illinois and the face of the tournament, Doug Eddert, have moved to Bryant.
It’s hard to weigh this season’s success so far compared to last year, but the Peacocks are 5-5 against Division I teams. Their worst loss was to his No. 350 team on KenPom.com — en route to St. Francis, NY — and their best win to his KenPom No. 181 Quinnipiac on December 18 ( 63-56). Peters is on his second win streak, with another of his at Hartford on December 13th.
Players you should know
Isaiah Dasher, 5th year guard, 6’4, number 13 — Dasher is one of two NCAA Tournament contributors to return for the Peacocks, and he’s been great. The former Portland and his JUCO product are shooting 37.5% from 3, leading St. Peters with 13.9 points per game. During the Peacocks’ current streak, he is averaging 26 points per game.
Jalen Murray, sophomore guard, 5’11”, jersey number 5 — Murray is the only consistent rotation player to return from the Peacocks’ run last season and has benefited primarily from playing backup point guard. He is the second-leading scorer in the United States, averaging 3.4 assists per game. However, Murray has missed the past three games and has not played since December 3.
Luttrell Reid, Senior Guard, 6’3, No. 0 — Reed is a second-year Peacock, but played just one minute in last year’s NCAA Tournament. This season, he has played the longest on the team with 28.6 hours per game. His shooting is sub-par and his field goal percentage is just 29.5%, but he averages 4.5 dimes per game and is the Peacocks’ top getter in his assists.
strength
offensive rebound. Redshirt freshman forward Mouhamed Sow is 6-foot-9, as is freshman forward Thomas Tut. The Peacocks offensively his rebounding percentage is 37.2%, which puts him 15th highest in the nation. Saw has 2.4 offenses per game and he leads the Peacocks in rebounding.
weakness
photograph. The Peacocks are a miserable shooting team. His 44.1% effective field goal percentage for them ranks him 343rd in America. KempomSt. Peters ranks 293rd in Division I with a 31.15% 3-point shooting percentage.
3 things to watch
1. Can Maryland shoot the ball at a higher clip? It’s no secret that Maryland’s shooting has pitted them in their last two losses. Terps went 2-for-24 deep against Tennessee and he went 0-for-10 in the second half. Maryland he hit 11 of his triples against UCLA, many of which were in garbage time. The Terps went just 2-11 from deep in the first half, scoring just 20 points. Maryland should beat St. He Peters no matter what, but it would be encouraging to see a better shooting performance.
2. Will sophomore forward Julian Reese play? Reese injured his right shoulder in the first half against UCLA and did not return to action in the second half. “It was more careful than anything else,” Willard said after the game. Reese had a chill on his shoulder in the second half of last Wednesday’s game, but the rest should have helped him get back to 100 percent.
Willard said Wednesday that Reese is “making good progress” “day by day.” They want him to go against St. Peter.
“We worked with him slowly to make sure he was 100 percent healed,” Willard said.
3. Do the Terps look rejuvenated after an eight-day hiatus? Willard said the team will have four days after the UCLA game to allow his men to focus on their studies and rest for the finals. He said last Sunday would be his first real day off since before the Nov. 29 game in Louisville. The Xfinity Center should be lackluster for a weaker opponent with students out of town, but the Terps should come back from their break and look rejuvenated.
“They didn’t get to rest until the end,” Willard said. I did,” he said. “I had been recruiting since the UCLA game, so they took a few days off with me and then just came back two days ago. I really wanted them to do well academically.I really wanted to give them that time and let them focus on their studies, from basketball to Please let me go.”
