One theme of the early going has been that there is no dominant team, and a corollary of that is even the best teams will have a game or two where they don’t look like a Final Four or even national title contender, and could lose to a team that might not be better than they are on the whole. Maryland is one more example of that, and so far the Terrapins have dodged the bad result on the bottom line. That culminated in Sunday’s win to take home the Orlando Invitational, and it went a bit differently than the prior two games might have suggested.
The Terrapins got all they could handle from Temple in the quarterfinals and Harvard in the semifinals. Both are good teams, but neither team is thought to be as good as the Terrapins. With Markus Howard – he of 91 points in the first two games in Orlando – and Marquette awaiting on Sunday, one could be forgiven for thinking the Terrapins would have a hard time taking home the title.
Then the game was played. Then Maryland shut down the star guard – and we do mean shut down. Howard scored just six points on 1-12 shooting, missing all six attempts from long range, and that helped Maryland blow out the Golden Eagles 84-63 in a game that was not really a contest in the second half.
This is probably the most complete game the Terrapins have played all season, and much has been expected of them. With tournament MVP Anthony Cowan Jr. (22 points, four assists and just one turnover) and Jalen Smith (six rebounds, three blocked shots inside) opting to return, they have a solid overall cast that can go deep. Darryl Morsell (17 points, 10 rebounds and a big hand in the defensive effort on Howard) and Aaron Wiggins (15 points) joined him on the formidable perimeter unit along with Eric Ayala. The Terrapins shot 47.7 percent from the field, held Marquette to 39 percent, had a 40-30 edge on the glass and forced 16 turnovers while giving the ball away just ten times.
Maryland now has their best start in 13 years, and this is a good time for them to start putting complete efforts together. While their early slate was not full of cupcakes – they had wins over Rhode Island and George Mason before this weekend – it gets tougher soon. Notre Dame comes to town on Wednesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, two early Big Ten games are ahead this weekend, and a trip to Seton Hall still looms before Big Ten play starts in earnest.
If Cowan continues to play like he did in Orlando, this team should be in great shape. That would mean he would be a senior leader in the backcourt, playing his best basketball and making guys like Smith, who has the potential to put up a double-double every night, even better. It also means this team should become less susceptible to the kind of off nights that can lead to losses to teams they shouldn’t lose to.
Even so, the Terrapins will surely drop a game or two they shouldn’t. It’s been the trend thus far in the young season, and they were certainly in position for that to happen in Orlando in the first two games. That they survived those two bodes well, but it’s also a sign that there are sure to be more close calls. Sunday’s blowout win suggests this team has a chance to win when it counts the most, though, and to bounce back from efforts that aren’t their best, whether that resulted in a win or a loss.
Side Dishes
USC took third place in the Orlando Invitational by handling Harvard 77-62 behind a big double-double from Onyeka Okongwu (27 points, 14 rebounds), while Temple took fifth place with a 66-53 win over Davidson and Fairfield salvaged seventh place by edging Texas A&M 67-62 behind 34 points from .
Arizona won the Wooden Legacy by holding off Wake Forest 73-66. The Wildcats looked like they could pull away, but Olivier Sarr (21 points, 13 rebounds) and the Demon Deacons fought back to within 68-64 in the final minute. They could get no closer as Arizona won their first in-season tournament in five years. Earlier, Penn took third place by pulling away from Long Beach State 95-79 behind 21 points and six rebounds from Jordan Dingle, UCF handled College of Charleston 77-56 for fifth, and Providence held off Pepperdine 80-77 for seventh place despite 29 points and eight rebounds from the Waves’ Colbey Ross.
An additional note from the final is a report from ESPN.com that Wake Forest played the game without unspecified players who “may have behaved in a manner that does not reflect the standards and values of Wake Forest Basketball and our University,” according to a statement by head coach Danny Manning. Though Manning did not specify the issue, a Disneyland employee shared a letter directed to him on Twitter accusing four players of rude behavior and offensive language at the theme park on Saturday, which was a day off from games in the three-game tournament.
In Sacred Heart‘s 101-57 thrashing of Division III Pine Manor College, Cameron Parker handed out 24 assists, the most by a Division I player since it became an official statistic in the 1983-84 season. He also didn’t score, which made him the first Division I player over the past 20 seasons to not score and have at least 20 assists. Parker set a Northeast Conference freshman record for assists last season with 213, so he may have a shot at the top ten all-time in that category, one where a former NEC player, LIU’s Jason Brickman, is currently fourth.
Other results of note: Vermont rallied to make it a ballgame late in the first half, but Yale regained control in the second half for a 65-52 win; Villanova made a 20-point halftime lead stand up as they beat visiting La Salle 83-72; Tulane quietly improved to 6-1 as K.J. Lawson scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Green Wave past Southern 82-65; West Virginia got 25 points and 11 rebounds from Derek Culver to edge Fatts Russell (32 points) and Rhode Island 86-81 in Morgantown; Saint Louis moved to 7-1 with a 69-60 win over Southern Illinois behind 14 points and 19 rebounds from Jordan Goodwin; Stanford is now 8-1 after handling UNCW 72-54; Georgia Tech barely got past Cletrell Pope (20 points, 19 rebounds) and Bethune-Cookman 68-65 in Atlanta; and Saint Mary’s trailed at the half but came up big in the second to knock off Omaha 75-66.
Tonight’s Menu
After over a week full of busy slates, it lightens up considerably tonight, though the Big Ten/ACC Challenge gets underway.
- Starting off the Big Ten/ACC Challenge is Illinois hosting Miami (7 p.m.) and an intriguing later one as Minnesota hosts Clemson (9 p.m.)
- South Florida gets a challenge as Furman visits (7 p.m.)
- Local rivals meet in Texas as North Texas travels to UT Arlington (8 p.m.)
- In the last game of the night, South Dakota brings its 6-1 mark further west to visit Washington (10:30 p.m.)
