Kevin Willard, no longer undefeated as Maryland’s head coach, dropped his first game on the Terps sideline as the No. 13 Maryland Men’s Basketball was lost 64-59 to Wisconsin State in Madison.
Maryland’s offensive show has been the worst of the season, with a solid defense but not enough against quality Big Ten opponents. Maryland is 8-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Big 10, with two tough games to come.
Let’s look at some points from the loss.
Maryland’s undefeated start to the season is over.
Victory never lasts forever. Maryland’s perfect start and good luck came to an end Tuesday night against Wisconsin, as they suffered their first loss of the season.
Terps seemed to have had a lid on the rim, especially in the first half. Willard’s group picked it up from 3 as the game went on, shooting 42% from long range to finish the game. In his two at-bats, Maryland shot 35%, his lowest for the season.
Maryland looked great but couldn’t connect with easy layups around the 3s and rim. A poor shooting on the Maryland side resulted in a counter-look from Wisconsin, drilling them down with consistent clips at their home arena.
The Terps were trailed by 12 points in the first half, but showed resilience when they exploded with an 11-0 run towards the end of the first half, entering the break by just two points. The Terps appeared sluggish and lifeless on both sides of the ball in the opening ten minutes, leading to a double-digit deficit. Maryland hadn’t pulled past three at any point this season until Tuesday.
It was unclear whether Willard’s group would roll over or react and fight back. Tough teams do the latter. If Maryland has proven anything this season, it’s tough.
The second half was evenly contested, but Wisconsin defeated Terps, who scored 29 points in the first half and scored only 30 points in the second half.
The Magic in Maryland came to an end at the first Big Ten road game of the season, but fans have no reason to panic. It’s incredibly difficult to beat good opponents in a Big Ten trip, and Maryland’s ranking may be higher than Wisconsin’s, but the Badgers are a quality team. If he makes three shots instead of two, it’s even harder to win.
Maryland’s offense appeared lost, largely due to an influx of turnovers.
Maryland’s fast-paced, exciting, and sometimes chaotic offense lacked the free-wheeling, unselfish look it displayed in its first eight games. Most of the night against Wisconsin was chaotic and corny.
Maryland’s 59 points marked the lowest offensive output of the season by 12 points. In the first few minutes, Terps had many open looks that he could not convert. As the game progressed and the Wisconsin defense cracked down, Maryland struggled to produce quality looks, leading to forced shots at the rim.
“You have to give them credit,” said Willard. “I think we’ve talked a lot in the last few days about physicality, especially on home defense.”
Maryland’s sloppy performance is evident in the influx of sales it committed. Terps he turned the ball over 14 times. Many of Maryland’s turnovers were simply due to inadvertent passes on the perimeter or post entry.
After starting 1-1 at 3-8, Maryland heated up from the distance, knocking down 6 of their next 11 attempts. It was the two point shot attempt that was problematic for Maryland. Maryland stars Jameel Young and Donta Scott compromised too often with poor quality shots.
Scott scored 9 points on 3-of-14 shooting. In Maryland, he had only two players in double digits. Young, who scored 17, and his sophomore forward Julian Reese, who scored 10.
“I thought we hurt ourselves because we missed some opportunities. We had two close shots that we missed at the rim,” Willard said.
Poor quality shots and too many turnovers reduced Terp’s offensive performance. Willard argues that it gives players a lot of freedom offensively as long as they play hard on defense. Sometimes they produce sloppy, aggressive performances like the one Maryland put on Tuesday night.
Maryland has two of the toughest games of the season ahead.
After finishing 13th in the latest AP poll on Monday, Maryland lost its first game of the season. Despite losing to Wisconsin on the road, the Maryland faithful should still be optimistic after seeing Maryland beat the great Illinois team at home just days ago.
Despite a 1-1 record, Maryland only has two Big Ten games, so it looks like it will be able to compete with the best teams in the conference. When it comes to setting the conference landscape, the complete juggernaut is probably none other than Purdue, and arguably this year with a strong and competitive team across the league. can do. Whether or not Maryland fans embrace the idea will be determined when Big Ten play is in full swing following the New Year.
But a victory over no at the time. A close loss on the road to 16 Illinois and a physical Wisconsin team proves that Maryland is a contender for the conference.
Now Maryland is auditioning to persuade the nation as a contender for the national title. This is a sentence that anyone in the country would have been crucified for writing before the season.
The first test will be the No. 7 Tennessee at the Barclays Center this Sunday. A neutral site place against him on one of the best teams in the country could make him the toughest opponent Maryland faced in a young season and one of the toughest Tests of the year. there is. The Volunteers’ only loss was an upset loss to Colorado in the second game of the season. Since then, Tennessee has beaten national champion Kansas.
Following Tennessee, Maryland will host No. 19 UCLA next Wednesday. UCLA has only lost to Baylor and Illinois, making him one of the best teams in the country. Maryland is sure to have as exciting an atmosphere as they did when they beat Illinois on December 2nd. Even if the matchup between Maryland and UCLA has become an annual contest, the West Coast powerhouse gathers excitement whenever it travels across the country. Once the Bruins join the Big Ten.
Next week we have a lot to tell Maryland players, staff and supporters about what this team could potentially accomplish in the coming months.
