No. 11 Maryland men’s basketball, at its highest AP poll ranking since the 2019-20 season, is finally entering postseason play.
The Terps (24-7, 14-6 Big Ten) finished with their best overall and conference record since 2019-20, when they had an identical finish. They matched their program record for Big Ten wins and secured the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
The seed grants the Terps a double-bye in the tournament, with the first game being in the quarterfinals on Friday. Maryland will face the winner of Illinois vs. either Iowa or Ohio State.
Post-bye struggles
Every team wants a bye or double-bye, but it seems particularly crucial for Maryland — the lone Big Ten team with all five starters averaging more than 30 minutes in conference play.
Fatigue is a concern with games played on consecutive games during the Big Ten Tournament. While a free pass to the quarterfinals is exciting for the Terps, the six-day gap between games isn’t.
“We have not been good coming off byes. Thanks a lot [for reminding me],” coach Kevin Willard joked after Saturday’s 74-61 win over Northwestern. “I was gonna go have a beer, now I’m gonna switch to whiskey.”
[Julian Reese had every reason to leave Maryland. He cemented his legacy instead.]
The Terps lost both of their Big Ten games that came six-plus days after their previous contest — a home loss to Michigan State and a road defeat to Ohio State. They played two conference foes on a five-day gap, beating UCLA and losing at Washington.
Offensive decline
While most of the feelings around the Terps are positive, they enter the postseason on a downward offense trend.
The Terps averaged 67 points over their last four games — their worst stretch this season. They had the No. 16 offense on KenPom less than a month ago, but now sit at No. 34.
Their defense has made up for scoring troubles, winning three of those four games and registering as a top 10 defensive KenPom team.
Maryland also shot 37.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three across its last four games. After Saturday’s win over Northwestern, Willard said he was concerned with his team’s 18 turnovers, but they only averaged nine in the first three games of the cold spell.
The more consistent problem for the Terps’ offense in their last four games has been in transition.
[Julian Reese’s senior day performance leads No. 13 Maryland to 74-61 win over Northwestern]
“I gotta figure out how to work on our fastbreak, to be honest with you,” Willard said. “I’m not that smart of a guy, [I don’t know how] to work on a fastbreak with only eight guys, because that’s all we have to practice.”
Willard’s team averages about 13 fastbreak points and tallied 19 against Penn State on March 1, but only had 17 combined in the other three games.
As for the eight players in practice, Jahari Long, Braden Pierce and Chance Stephens’ injuries moved the Terps down to 10 scholarship players. It’s unclear who the other two absent players Willard referred to are.
No. 1 in attendance
Baba Oladotun, the No. 1 class of 2027 prospect according to the 247sports Composite, was at Xfinity Center for the Terps’ win on Saturday.
https://x.com/Ejcohen17/status/1898497669166711084
He walked off the floor with Maryland director of player personnel and coach Ricky Harris.
Oladotun is a 6-foot-9 wing who possesses a combination of size and shooting. He plays AAU for Team Durant, and has even drawn comparisons to the program’s namesake.
The Silver Spring native is a sophomore at Blake High School. He opted to stay near home and attend public high school rather than going to an illustrious private or prep school. Maryland hopes he makes a similar decision for college — choosing to stay home instead of going to a blue blood..
