The Maryland Terrapins travel to Michigan State looking for their 5th Win in a row.
The Maryland Terrapins travel to Breslin Center in hopes of continuing their Big Ten win streak against the Michigan State Spartans. The Maryland Terrapins have won 4 games in a row dating back to the Wisconsin game in late January. The Terrapins are in the midst of what could be argued as their best stretch this season. They have been playing top level basketball as of late and I am sure that no one wants to face them right now. With that being said, winning on the road in the Big Ten tends to be quite a test, and against Tom Izzo and the Spartans, that test becomes even harder quite quickly.
The Spartans are 14-9 on the year, but 1-3 in their last 4. For the Spartans, their last victory came against Iowa in late January. Recently, they have dropped games against Purdue and then Rutgers. Both of those teams are very good this year, but nonetheless the Spartans are in a tough stretch as of late. The Spartans are led by guard Tyson Walker and forward Joey Hauser. Both of which are averaging just over 13 points on the year. For the Spartans, they get a fiery Terps team coming to town, who could be viewed as one of the hottest teams in the game right now.
As mentioned above, the Terps have won 4 games in a row and look to keep their streak going as they travel to Michigan State tonight. The Terps are coming off one of their most impressive road wins in school history, winning by 35 points against Minnesota on Saturday. For me as well as I am sure others, it was a surprise to not find the Terps in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday morning. Either way, they have a chance to stay hot and earn themselves the ranking that much more. The Terps success as of late has been a real joy and can be attributed to their offense finally coming to life this year. They continue to control the tempo of these games, something us fans have been waiting to see this entire year. As that continues, it seems their success goes hand in hand.
The Terps continue to be led by transfer Jahmir Young who has done nothing but shine since coming back home to the DMV this year. On Saturday, he dropped 14 points for the Terps. Another huge player to attribute a lot of this team’s success to is Julian Reese. He has continued to standout as of late, dropping 16 points on Saturday himself. He continues to show dominance in the paint for the Terps, something that has been much needed this year. The players continue to do their job for the Terps and it has gone a long way, as they look for 5 in a row tonight, I am sure they look to once again control the tempo of the game.
Maryland’s success as of late also deserves a major shout out to first year Coach Kevin Willard, who has seemed to trigger something within that locker room that has led to this run from the Terps. As a fan it is a lot of fun to see and watch a coach like him make as many adjustments as he does in game. It is something we were missing with Turgeon, but seem to have hit it out of the park with Willard.
For tonight, the Terps need to simply do what they have been. Continue to dominate the paint and the tempo of the game. It has been quite the recipe for success for the Terps as of late and should be again tonight. It is very challenging to win on the road in the Big Ten, especially against Coach Tom Izzo. That being said this team appears to be firing on all cylinders right now and we hope to see that again tonight as they go for 5 in a row. Tip off is at 9 pm eastern on ESPN 2. Go Terps!
