No. 9 Maryland Men’s Basketball hits the road for tough Saturday night battle against Michigan State
Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics.
In forepart of a hostile crowd, Maryland (20-four, 10-iii B1G) has an opportunity to defeat Michigan State (17-8, 9-5 B1G) for the first fourth dimension since March 4, 2017. The Terps are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, narrowly defeating Nebraska 72-seventy on Tuesday. The Spartans at present unranked after being ranked the preseason No. 1 are coming off an impressive 70-69 route win over No. 22 Illinois.
Last year when the Terps and Spartans met in Eastward Lansing, at certain times Maryland seemed outmatched physically. In improver to struggling with the Spartans physicality, the Terps were a much younger team. This twelvemonth is a different story, all the same. Maryland is much more than experienced and understands how to play in a raucous atmosphere like the Breslin Center. Last twelvemonth, including Jalen Smith, five of the Terps players had never competed confronting the Spartans before.
"Terminal year when we played [Michigan State], it let us know how far nosotros were from being elite," caput autobus Mark Turgeon said.
In last year'southward meeting Jalen Smith finished with a measly half dozen points and three rebounds, struggling with the Spartans size and physicality down depression. Yet, this twelvemonth, Smith has displayed his increased physicality on both ends of the floor, playing some of the all-time basketball of his career. "Stix" enters the highly anticipated matchup with seven consecutive double-doubles, displaying his ability every bit a premier rim protector and an outside shooting threat.
"From that game forrad, we got a little bit more concrete, specially 'Stix", Turgeon said. "Stix knew how far he had to come after that game, and you've seen him go a lot better and you've seen him improve then much during this year guarding big guys."
Similar to Maryland, everything for the Spartans offensively starts with their senior leader point guard Cassius Winston. Winston is one of the best guards in the country. He thrives in the pick and roll, creating for himself and making plays for his teammates. In addition to Winston, Xavier Tillman presents a bully challenge down depression averaging a double-double. The primal for Maryland will be ball screen defense, which has been a bespeak of accent throughout this flavour.
"We all know Cassius is actually good in ball screens and and then are a lot of their other guards," Cowan said. "It's definitely going to be key and that's definitely something we've been working on."
While ball-screen defense will be a indicate of accent, then will transition defense. Similar to Maryland, the Spartans dear to play fast and push the stride using their size and athleticism to their advantage. In last yr'due south meeting, the Spartans had 29 fast-break points, while the Terps mounted just nine.
Offensive balance will also be pivotal for the Terps, facing off against the Spartans who are 1 of the best defensive teams in the Large Ten. With head coach Tom Izzo expected to game plan for Cowan and Jalen Smith, Darryl Morsell, Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins will be vital as well. Wiggins performed well in last year's meeting with fifteen points and Ayala is coming off a flavor-loftier 16 points against the Cornhuskers. When Maryland's complementary scorers are playing well, the Terps are at their best.
With College Gameday in East Lansing, this night'due south contest will be electric, and an opportunity for Maryland to go along displaying their growth.
"On the road, we demand every concluding person to come together and practise something positive," Ayala said. "It would be a big statement for united states to go upwards there and get a win."
Source: http://wmucsports.net/no-9-maryland-mens-basketball-hits-the-road-for-tough-saturday-night-battle-against-michigan-state/
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