Maryland Picks up Important Win Over Minnesota
Maryland (15-6) defeated the Golden Gophers (14-7) a home on Thursday 77-66. The win comes on the heels of a bad stretch wherein the Terps lost 3 of 4. Turgeon’s team desperately needed the good result to stay on the favorable side of the bubble, as many experts have them on the edge and a loss to a depleted and slumping Minnesota at home would have done them no favors.
Both teams started slow, scoring only 12 combined points through the first 6 minutes. The pace picked up however, with Maryland holding an 8 point lead late in the half before a 7-0 run brought Minnesota to within 1 for a halftime score of 29-28. The Terps gave up 4 quick points in the second before going on a bonkers 21-2 run to put the game out of reach.
Anthony Cowan had an interesting night, going 15-10 with 6 rebounds, all while not scoring a single point until the 11:36 mark of the second half. Every starter other than Fernando, who’s still dealing with an illness, scored at least 13, with Huerter pacing the team and scoring 19 points. Most importantly, frosh guard Darryl Morsell played his best game of conference play, shooting 63% and going 13-5-1. Michal Cekovsky was a monster inside, and the guards seemed to keep feeding him for oop after oop, leading to 17 points for the big man.
Overall, this was one of the better games for the Terps this season. The ball movement was fluid, the defense got key stops, the turnovers were kept relatively low, and the team didn’t give up any extended runs. They’ll need it coming up, with a brutal three-game stretch of @IU, vs. MSU, and @PU coming up on the schedule.
Maryland looks to win back-to-back games for the first time since the games on 12/29 and 1/2 on Monday the 22nd at 7pm on Fox Sports 1 against Indiana
