Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings: Purdue, Maryland make huge leaps

By Austin Walther

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 03: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts from the bench while playing the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Arena on January 03, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 68-55. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – DECEMBER 06: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins and bench protest after a call during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on December 6, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – DECEMBER 06: Head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins and bench protest after a call during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on December 6, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

4. Maryland Terrapins (15-3)

Previous Rank: 10

Here come the teams that have made major jumps since the previous rankings came out. You have to bare with me. Maryland has just three losses. One is to a team that could easily be the number one team in the country next week at this time. The second loss came to a Purdue team that has just run into bad luck. The defeat to Seton Hall at home isn’t the best, but what came after is helping the Terrapins.

Maryland has won six-straight. Two were to ranked teams, one that used to be ranked and a pair on the road. One of the road wins was to Rutgers, but another was at the Barn where Minnesota plays extremely hard. Indiana was ranked when the Terps beat them by three and the game against the Badgers was a thriller. Maryland was up 18, Wisconsin came back to take the lead by one, but Anthony Cowan was cold blooded and knocked down a three-pointer to seal the deal.

Wisconsin’s radio color analyst said it best in his postgame tweet, that was Melo Trimble esque. Maryland did give up an 18-point lead at home. The Terps were rolling, but both Bruno Fernando and Ethan Happ went out with four fouls. Badgers took advantage. But the play maker for Maryland responded in the best way possible.

Cowan is averaging almost 18 points per game, four rebounds and four assists. I think some were thinking his assist numbers would be a little higher, but he has made 38 three-pointers. Fernando is a monster when he stays out of foul trouble. Five-star freshman Jalen Smith is as tall as the sophomore, but can play both high and low. There’s a bit of a scoring drop off after the sixth man, but this is still a young Maryland team that looks very impressive at times.

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