For a few seconds Tuesday night, Terrapins men’s basketball guard Rasheed Sulaimon flew.
Catching the ball along the perimeter, he stormed past multiple defenders, elevated from just outside the left edge of the paint, and hung in the air for the sparse crowd at Xfinity Center to see.
Before his vicious one-handed slam destroyed the rim to put the Terps up 40-26 with 3:30 remaining in the first half, Sulaimon rose a couple feet off the hardwood — a gap that symbolized the stark level of talent and skill between the No. 2 Terps and Bowie State.
It was an odd time for a nonconference game against a Division II opponent, but such is the beauty (or not) of college basketball scheduling.
A letdown wouldn’t have been acceptable in this contest, despite it coming between a matchup against No. 18 Purdue and Wisconsin. The Terps are too good, the Bulldogs too bad.
This was evident from start to finish, with the contest skewing more toward a glorified scrimmage than a regular-season game. The Terps ran past, dunked over and humiliated Bowie State 93-62.
So no, no Terps received failing grades tonight.
Guard Jaylen Brantley: B
Brantley is a creative finisher with decent range but hasn’t shown it against Big Ten opponents, perhaps because of a lack of confidence. The junior college transfer was on his game Tuesday, scoring 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting. He logged a game-high 21 minutes.
Guard Rasheed Sulaimon: A-
The graduate transfer scored a game-high 16 points in 20 minutes, with a thunderous dunk in each half providing the highlights of the night. During a game in which guard Melo Trimble took a backseat and preserved his body, Sulaimon shone.
Guard Jared Nickens: C-
Nickens’ shooting struggles have been well-documented, and Tuesday presented a good opportunity for him to snap the slump. It didn’t happen. The sophomore compiled four points on 1-for-5 shooting.
Forward Michal Cekovsky: B+
The sophomore scored a career-high 14 points, making easy work of an inferior frontcourt. The 7-foot-1 Cekovsky was just too tall. He also finished alley-oops from Trimble and guard Varun Ram and added four rebounds.
Center Diamond Stone: B+
Stone was an efficient 4-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He played just 16 minutes but still compiled 14 points.
Starters who weren’t graded: Trimble, forward Jake Layman, forward Robert Carter Jr.: This trio didn’t play badly, but they just didn’t do much, attempting a combined seven shots. A little rest is never a bad thing.
