Terps Lose at Purdue 75-67
Maryland basketball lost at no. 3 Purdue on Wednesday night 75-67. The game was anticipated to be a beatdown, as Purdue was a serious championship contender playing at home and they had won 17 straight games dating back to thanksgiving.
The Terps’ odds didn’t get any better when it was announced prior to the game that forward Michael Cekovsky was injured in practice and never even made the trip. Turgeon’s team was so depleted, only 8 scholarship players suited up and the lack of depth showed. Maryland still played the Boilers close and showed once a gain they can hang with talented teams.
-Sean Obi fouled out despite only being in the game for 8(!) minutes and still recorded a positive +/-
-The starters averaged 30.6 minutes, including Anthony Cowan’s 39
-Dion Wiley posted 0 points, 1 assist, and 1 rebound in 24 minutes, which seems impossible but is true
-Bruno Fernando scored 20 points, missing his career high by 1
-Kevin Huerter hit 3 3’s in a 2-minute span in the second half but went 1-7 from deep for the rest of the night
-Darryl Morsell finally showed up in a big game, going 13-9 despite foul trouble
-The Terps played much better in the second half, turning the ball over 8 less times and scoring 21 more points in the last frame
Maryland lost the two hardest games of their season in a 4-day span to cap a 2-6 record over the past 8 games. The Terps are now in a very difficult spot, as they are projected out of the tournament field with 7 regular season games to go. Only one game, a home contest against Michigan, will be against a top-30 kenpom team, with 6 outside the top 50. Every loss from here on out would be considered a bad loss, and all but end their tournament hopes. The run to the postseason begins with their next game which is at home against a struggling Wisconsin team on Sunday the 4th at 1pm on CBS.
