Maryland men’s basketball didn’t show anything new in its nonconference finale, an 81-66 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday.
Julian Reese and Derik Queen put together a pair of double-doubles, but they came against a Hawks team that hasn’t beaten a Division I opponent. They were the Terps’ fifth opponent ranked below No. 300 on KenPom — Maryland went undefeated in such games, winning by an average margin of 41.8 points.
Eight of the Terps’ 11 nonconference games came against Quad 4 opponents. Only one game, a four-point home loss to Marquette, is currently a Quad 1 contest.
Maryland (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) didn’t notch any needle-moving wins for an NCAA tournament resume in its nonconference slate — those will have to come in Big Ten play. The closest thing to it was a one-point victory over a Villanova team ranked outside the top 50 in the KenPom and NET rankings.
The Terps benefited analytically from their soft nonconference schedule. They entered Saturday inside most analytic services’ top 15s — including a No. 7 ranking by the NET and No. 11 by KenPom — despite being unranked in the AP poll.
[Julian Reese turned his biggest weakness into a potential strength]
“What I’ve learned over these first two years of this new college basketball is that … just be patient and let [the new rosters] kind of go with the ups and downs,” coach Kevin Willard said Thursday on the Maryland Basketball Radio Show. “Make sure you control your schedule to make sure that you can have good growing pains, and I think we really accomplished that this year.”
Those growing pains came against Marquette on Nov. 15 and a five-point road loss to Purdue on Dec. 8.
Willard knows most fans won’t think about the Boilermakers or Ohio State as part of the Terps’ early-season schedule since they’re conference opponents. But the coach said he placed a heavy emphasis on Maryland’s first two Big Ten games, making it a necessity to schedule softer around those.
Big Ten teams play two conference games in early December before the real season kicks off after the New Year. In the 2022-23 season, Willard’s first in College Park, Maryland lost to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 16 UCLA following its two early conference bouts. He said his team was “dead” coming out of those two games due to the energy it expended against Illinois and Wisconsin.
[For Kevin Willard, wearing suits is more than a fashion statement]
“The hardest thing about it, and all the Big Ten coaches agree, is you really have to be careful who you play going into the two December Big Ten games and how you come out of those,” Willard said.
That doesn’t mean Willard won’t schedule compelling games in the future.
The Terps have already announced bouts against Georgetown, Marquette and Virginia next season, matching their number of high-major opponents from this year. Willard said Maryland is looking to do two more neutral site games in the New York area.
Low-major opponents like Maryland Eastern Shore would likely fill out the gaps, particularly given how playing them has benefited the Terps’ numbers this season.
It’s hard to gauge much from games against that caliber of opponent, and even if Maryland has passed the eye test, it hasn’t earned a marquee win. Willard’s team will have opportunities to do that in conference play, with a game at No. 10 Oregon on Jan. 5 being the first.
