Maryland looks to Shock Number 3 Purdue at Home
The Maryland Terrapins face off against number 3 ranked Purdue inside of the Xfinity Center tonight. For the Terrapins, this stretch of basketball for them lately continues to prove to be one of their bests, and it’s now a chance for them to put an exclamation mark on it. With the opportunity arising for the Terrapins to beat the number 3 ranked team at home, it would be almost guaranteed they would find themselves ranked back inside the top 25 for the first time in a long time this season.
Purdue is in the midst of a mid season slump, dropping 2 out of their last 3 games. Both of their losses have come on the road, one being against ranked Indiana, but the other being a shocking upset by unranked Northwestern. Purdue has found themselves at the AP Poll number 1 for multiple weeks this season, but on Monday they dropped down to number 3.
Last time Maryland squared off against Purdue, they were abysmal from the 3 point line. Maryland shot a whopping 14 percent from 3, and ended up losing the contest by 3 points. The Terps trailed by 14 at half, but Coach Willard made the necessary adjustments to turn it around, and the game came down to a last second shot for the Terps.
Tonight, the Terps will look to shoot the ball better. They continue to shoot the 3 pointer better at home, but seem to find themselves relying on it too much. Tonight though, finding points in the paint won’t be any kind of easy task. Purdue’s Zach Edey, one of , if not the best center in college basketball stands in the Terps’ way of points in the paint. Last game, Julian Reese stepped up to the challenge and did his best against Edey. It was one of his most emerging games, and he proved he has what it takes to limit Edey as much as possible.
To win the game tonight, I would expect the Terps to be running a very fast pace offensive scheme. In the second half of the original Purdue game, the Terps switched over to a very fast offense, giving trouble to Purdue’s defense as well as Zach Edey. To win tonight, they also need to shoot the ball better. With the struggling continuing from the 3 point line, the Terps will look to get the shots going early.
With an electric Xfinity Center atmosphere, the Terrapins will be getting the love from the home crowd. As we continue to learn, coming to Xfinity is no easy task and will continue to be a challenge tonight. With the love from the home crowd, Maryland upsetting Purdue is on many people’s radar, and let’s hope to see it tonight. The Terps tip off at 6:30 on Big Ten Network. Go Terps!
