After its loss to No. 12 Michigan State on Jan. 23, the Terrapins men’s basketball team had plenty of time to mull over the defeat and deal with the disappointment.
A chance to capture a win over a top-25 team to put on their NCAA Tournament resume, had slipped through their fingers. And with Winter Storm Jonas blanketing this state and shutting down activity on campus, the Terps didn’t have practice Sunday or Monday.
With classes cancelled until Wednesday, the Terps had ample free time during those two days. They held players-only meeting and discussed the loss to the Spartans and the other two defeats this season. They ate dinner together and dissected their recent performances. That extra time together helped the team bond, and Thursday, they got the signature win that had been lacking, a 74-68 victory over No. 3 Iowa.
So the No. 8 Terps head into Sunday’s tilt at Ohio State as a more tight-knit group 15 days after beating the Buckeyes, 100-65. Before the season began, coach Mark Turgeon said the Terps were behind schedule due to the amount of new faces, such as freshman center Diamond Stone and transfer guard Rasheed Sulaimon, that had to quickly integrate into the team. Those worries have vanished, and the chemistry between teammates has blossomed, especially after the loss to the Spartans.
“We’ve done a lot of great things this year,” Turgeon said Saturday. “Are we still becoming closer? Yes, but every team is. It takes experiences to get where you really want to get and how you handle those experiences is really what makes who you are, whether it’s a good experience or a bad experience. We’re getting there. We’re just like every team.”
Despite record snowfall totals across the state, the Terps flew into Baltimore the day after the 74-65 loss to the Spartans. Turgeon decided to give the players some rest after a grueling stretch. Five days before the loss, the Terps needed overtime to defeat Northwestern at home.
The rest helped, Sulaimon said, but the bonding was more important. Sulaimon, a graduate transfer, has morphed into one of the Terps’ leaders this season despite not arriving on campus until late this summer after he completed his degree at Duke.
“We grew as a team,” Sulaimon said after the Terps’ win Thursday. “We were all on the same page today.”
While the Terps were disheartened by the loss to Michigan State, they reflected on areas they could grow in the ensuing days. So when forward Robert Carter Jr., who tied a game-high with 17 points, fouled out Thursday as the Terps clung to a slim lead with less than two minutes remaining, his teammates didn’t falter.
“We are a very resilient group,” senior forward Jake Layman said. “We learn from our losses.”
One of the areas where the Terps improved after the loss to Michigan State was rebounding. Despite a roster laden with length, the Terps were outrebounded, 46-36, by the Spartans, who pulled down 17 offensive boards.
The Terps took that personally, Carter said. And thanks to Carter and Layman, who both tied a team-high with seven rebounds, the Terps held a slight advantage on the boards Thursday, 38-35.
“We feel we should be a great rebounding team,” Carter said Thursday. “Tonight, we just did what we were supposed to do.”
Against a Buckeyes team that is third in the Big Ten with an average of 39.2 rebounds per game, the Terps (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) need to continue to be aggressive. While Ohio State (14-8, 6-3) started the season 2-4, including losses to Texas-Arlington and Louisiana Tech, they beat No. 20 Kentucky and are 4-0 at home in conference games.
The Terps walloped the Buckeyes at home on Jan. 16, though, and are coming off their first win over a ranked team this season.
Perhaps more importantly, they appear to be coming together at the right time.
“There’s a fine line in being a good and a great team,” Sulaimon said. “I think that team chemistry and stuff like that makes a big difference.”
