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Maryland Basketball: Iowa win shows Terps are a second-weekend team

IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 19: Forward Bruno Fernando #23 hugs head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins after the win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on February 19, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- FEBRUARY 19: Forward Bruno Fernando #23 hugs head coach Mark Turgeon of the Maryland Terrapins after the win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on February 19, 2019 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

The Maryland basketball squad broke a long drought of falling to ranked foes on the road, and these Terrapins look awfully dangerous moving forward.

I have a confession to make: other than my alma mater, Syracuse, I cheer for the Maryland hoops program more than any other crew across the country. That’s because I grew up roughly 30 miles from the College Park campus, and my Mom is a UMD alum.

So when the Terrapins and the Orange captured national championships in 2002 and 2003, respectively, I felt pretty much on cloud nine. But this article is about the present, not the past.

And if I’m honestly assessing Maryland at this juncture, with an attempt to remain objective, I think that the Terps are poised for success in the Big Ten Conference Tournament as well as March Madness. On Tuesday night in Iowa City, Iowa, No. 24 UMD got a late put-back from sophomore forward Bruno Fernando to triumph on the Hawkeyes’ own turf, 66-65.

This result pushes the Terrapins (20-7, 11-5) into fourth place in the league race, while No. 21 Iowa (20-6, 9-6), which saw its four-affair victory streak snapped, is situated in sixth in the conference standings. Perhaps of greater significance to Maryland is that besting the Hawkeyes gave the Terps their first road achievement against an opponent in the AP top-25 poll since 2008.

That, my friends, is a huge amount of time. While I don’t believe that UMD is going to secure the Big Ten regular-season title, finally landing this type of conquest away from the Xfinity Center is enormous, in my humble opinion. To me, it illustrates that the Terrapins possess the chops to produce some serious noise next month.

Sure, Maryland could flame out early in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It happens to a lot of high-quality groups. Yet what provides me with confidence that the Terps may reach the Sweet 16 or beyond is that their roster entails multiple talented guards who can score in a variety of ways, along with imposing forwards in Fernando and freshman Jalen Smith. This is not a one-dimensional offensive unit.

Currently projected as a No. 6 seed in the field of 68, UMD also displayed grit and toughness versus Iowa. The Terrapins coughed up an 11-point advantage with approximately four minutes left, but they didn’t fold on the road against a strong adversary. All in all, I’m digging the direction that Maryland is headed. I’ll fervently root for the Terps in the Big Dance. Except, of course, if they face off with Syracuse.