The Maryland basketball team stayed hot on Wednesday night as they went on the road and took down #17 Michigan. This was a huge win for the Terrapins as they fight for Big Ten Tournament positioning, and the victory gives them a great chance to secure the #2 seed next week in Indianapolis. This was a pretty tight game throughout, and Maryland came away with the 71-65 win.
Maryland ended up growing a comfortable lead in the second half as they led by as many as 12 at one point. Michigan fought back to make a two-point game, but the Terrapins made the winning plays down the stretch.
“More than anything, I’m just so proud of that group of guys because it could’ve been easy to let all that negativity, let all that talk deter them,” Maryland basketball head coach Kevin Willard said after the game, according to an article from The Diamondback. “These kids deserve a lot of credit.”
This Maryland team is playing as well as anyone in the Big Ten right now. The Terrapins have won 10 of their last 12 games, and one of the losses was on a half court buzzer beater. Kevin Willard is impressed with how his team has stayed composed during this run.
“So many of these guys are going through this for the first time — the pressure, the ranking, people talking about double-byes and NCAA tournament stuff,” Willard said. “These guys mentally have really stayed strong.”
In Wednesday’s win against Michigan, turnovers were the difference. Turnovers have plagued the Wolverines all season long, and they were a big issue in this game. Michigan turned the ball over 16 times while the Terrapins only turned it over eight times. Maryland scored 21 points off turnovers, and Michigan scored just nine.
If Michigan was able to take care of the basketball better, they probably win this game. At the end of the day, Maryland deserves a lot of credit for how they were able to defend and make things difficult for the Wolverines in this game. However, the Wolverines also made a lot of silly mistakes that were self-inflicted.
Maryland is now just one game back of Michigan in the Big Ten standings for second place, and the Wolverines have to play at Michigan State on Sunday. The Terrapins will finish the regular season at home against Northwestern. It’s looking like these two teams will both end up with 14-6 records in conference play, and Maryland now has the tiebreaker. If the Terrapins win against the Wildcats, they will likely get the two seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan, on the other hand, actually still has a chance to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title. If Michigan State shockingly loses to Iowa on Thursday and the Wolverines beat the Spartans on Sunday, the two rivals will be tied atop the standings with the regular season in the books. It’s a long-shot, but Michigan still has a chance.
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