Maryland vs. Penn State Preview
Coming off another upset victory over Purdue on Tuesday, the Terps travel to State College to take on a tough Penn State squad. Although both team’s records may not show it, this game could turn out to be highly contested. Penn State is coming off a tough loss to a great Wisconsin team who they previously had beat a few days before. Penn State at 6-8 has struggled but has shown flashes of being able to beat solid teams.
Maryland has had a somewhat similar season to Penn State. They have shown at times they aren’t very efficient and have struggled to score the ball. However, Maryland now had managed to pull out four wins over ranked teams this season with three of those games being on the road. Both Maryland and Penn State knocked off now 19th ranked Wisconsin this season.
A major key for Maryland tonight will be to shutdown Lions guard Myreon Jones. Jones, averaging 15.6 points per game at 42% shooting has been extremely tough to defend for BIG 10 teams this season. Penn State also has been in many high scoring affairs this season proving they are able to score pretty efficiently. High scoring games isn’t Maryland’s best thing this season as most of their upset wins have come from stout defensive efforts in low scoring games. Maryland will have to defend Penn State well or the game may get away from them.
High tournament implications are apparent for the Terps who desperately need a win tonight. A loss tonight could severely damage their resume and knock them out of the conversation for the NCAA Tournament. Currently, Maryland’s upset wins and conference record has them still in a decent position to make the tournament so long as they finish out the season strong.
The biggest concern for Maryland this season has definitely been offensive play. Does this team have someone who can go out there and get a score when they need it? This is a big question that needs to be answered here in the final stretch of the season. Someone, whether it’s Ayala, Morsell, or Scott needs to rise to the occasion and lead this team. Tonight is a huge game for this Maryland team. Turgeon needs to have his guys ready to play tonight.
