If there was any doubt freshman center Diamond Stone would struggle adjusting to increased competition in Big Ten play, it dissipated with his 39-point performance against Penn State in his first-ever conference game.
But he will face a new challenge Saturday when Purdue, which boasts two 7-footers, travels to College Park. Unlike nearly all of the Terps’ opponents this season, the Boilermakers can match the Terps’ size.
So coming off his 16-point, eight-block outing against Nebraska, Stone and the No. 4 Terps will try to overcome No. 18 Purdue’s length.
“This will be a different game for [Stone],” forward Damonte Dodd said. “The guy [center Isaac] Haas is like 7-2, 7-3, so I don’t think he has seen size like that. I think it’ll really be a game that’ll test him.”
Haas, a 7-foot-2 sophomore, averages 10.2 points per game while fellow center A.J. Hammons, a 7-foot senior, leads Purdue (19-4, 7-3 Big Ten) with 14.3 points per game. Stone’s defensive improvement was on display with his eight blocks Wednesday, but that was against a smaller Cornhuskers squad.
Dodd can relate to the challenges this Purdue team poses. In the Terps’ 69-60 win last season over the Boilermakers, Dodd played just two minutes despite starting. He picked up four fouls in his time on the court.
“We are big, but these guys are really big,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “Hammonds and Haas are just big men. That’ll be different defensively trying to guard them. They are a much better team than they were last year.”
The NCAA made a rule change since last season, though, allowing post players to use an arm bar when opponents try to back them down. Dodd said the change allows him to be more effective when guarding guys on the block.
“It gives you more balance when you in the post,” Dodd said. “Of course when they face up, you can’t have your arm on them. But when they are back to [the basket] that helps you a lot, helps you play more defense.”
For most of the season, Dodd and other Terps big men like forwards Michal Cekovsky (7-foot-1) and Robert Carter Jr. (6-foot-9) have been forced to chase smaller players around the perimeter.
But Purdue, like the Terps (20-3, 9-2), is big across the board. Turgeon said it’s rare in league play they get a chance to play a team that matches up with them. It’s one of the reasons forward Jake Layman is excited for the contest.
“This game is definitely a gift to our bigs,” Layman said. “They’ve had to deal with playing against guards all year, guarding smaller guys. This is definitely a game for them to step up and play well for us.”
The Terps enter the contest third in the Big Ten in scoring defense, holding their opponents to 64.2 points per game. The defense has been especially stout the past two games, holding Ohio State to 35.6 percent shooting and Nebraska to 31.8 percent.
But Purdue’s style and size will require the Terps to try and lock down the paint.
“This is a different animal,” Turgeon said. “Those teams didn’t post up as much. Obviously Nebraska didn’t post hardly at all. This team is all about getting the ball into the paint to their big guys.”
It’s something Stone hasn’t seen much of in the first 23 games of his college career. So Friday before practice a reporter asked Dodd if the rookie would be able to handle the test.
Dodd answered confidently.
“He don’t back down from nothing.”
