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Big Ten Basketball: Buy or Sell Maryland, Purdue, Michigan and MSU

By Austin Walther

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 08: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with his team during the second half at Breslin Center on January 08, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 77-59. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 08: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with his team during the second half at Breslin Center on January 08, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 77-59. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 01: Anthony Cowan Jr. #1 of the Maryland Terrapins attempts a shot while being guarded by D’Mitrik Trice #0 of the Wisconsin Badgers in the second half at the Kohl Center on February 01, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 01: Anthony Cowan Jr. #1 of the Maryland Terrapins attempts a shot while being guarded by D’Mitrik Trice #0 of the Wisconsin Badgers in the second half at the Kohl Center on February 01, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Maryland Terrapins – Sell

Maryland has looked really good this year. Their only blemish on the non-conference resume would be a home loss to Seton Hall. The Pirates are barely hanging around the bubble right now. Other than that, the only other loss has been to Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But they did not get into an early-season Tournament this year so the lack of quality non-conference wins shows.

The Terrapins needed to make a big impact in the Big Ten right away when play resumed. They had beaten Penn State, but lost to Purdue. The Boilermakers were tail-spinning at the time so it was hard to judge that game back in December. The Terps got their hot start. The win over Nebraska at the time was great. They avoided some bad losses and won at Minnesota, Indiana and Wisconsin at home and on the road to Ohio State.

Maryland jumped back into the top-25 in a big way and shot all the way up to 13. They had their opportunity to really show they belonged in discussion as a team from the Big Ten to make a big run. The Terps loss that game by 14. Michigan State was on a run of their own, Anthony Cowan scored a season low at the time seven points and Bruno Fernando turned the ball over five times.

They had to respond with a beating of Illinois, but lost that one too. Maryland did beat Northwestern pretty convincingly, but lost in a rematch with Wisconsin on the road. They took care of a wounded Nebraska team and then went back home to host Purdue. The Boilermakers were in the midst of a huge winning-streak. It really didn’t seem possible, but they snapped Purdue’s winning streak.

Once Cowan gets going, he’s hard to stop. He is such an underrated point guard. The junior has turned into a great passer and terrific shooter. Fernando is a beast and is contending for a spot on the First Team All-Big Ten list. Jalen Smith is a great freshman and adds as the third guy to the big three.

But it all comes down to whether the other freshmen, Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins can knock down three-pointers. During some of their losses, both guys struggled to shoot. This team is young. The first year player could catch fire, but most of these guys on this team haven’t seen the bright lights of the big dance yet.

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