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Maryland Basketball: Is Belmont or Temple the better NCAA Tourney matchup?

By Anthony Brown

COLLEGE PARK, MD - MARCH 03: Jalen Smith #25 of the Maryland Terrapins drives to the basket through Ignas Brazdeikis #13 and Jordan Poole #2 of the Michigan Wolverines in the second half during a college basketball game against the Michigan Wolverines at the XFinity Center on March 3, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - MARCH 03: Jalen Smith #25 of the Maryland Terrapins drives to the basket through Ignas Brazdeikis #13 and Jordan Poole #2 of the Michigan Wolverines in the second half during a college basketball game against the Michigan Wolverines at the XFinity Center on March 3, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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VILLANOVA, PA – DECEMBER 05: Shizz Alston Jr. #10 of the Temple Owls high fives De’Vondre Perry #22 in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA – DECEMBER 05: Shizz Alston Jr. #10 of the Temple Owls high fives De’Vondre Perry #22 in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on December 5, 2018 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

How does Maryland match up with Temple?

Temple basketball finished tied for third with the UCF Knights in the American Athletic Conference regular season standings. They lost in the conference quarterfinals, 80-74, to Wichita State. In that game, Markis McDuffie went off for 34 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks. Shizz Alston Jr. had 20 points and three assists followed by Ernest Aflakpui’s 16 points and 19 rebound performance in the loss.

The Owls leading scorers are Alston Jr. (19.7 PPG, five APG) Quinton Rose (16.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.1 SPG), and Nate Pierre-Louis (13.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG). Temple basketball is another hot shooting team that the Terps will be up against. Both of these teams have really good guard play.

The Owls had key wins against California, Missouri, St.Joseph’s, UConn twice, Houston, and Central Florida. Their key losses came against Villanova, Cincinnati, Houston, and Wichita State.

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I like this matchup better for the Terps. I think they could handle Temple defensively better than they would Belmont. They would just have to make sure that they set the pace of the game early, knock down their shots and don’t go consecutive possessions without a made basket.

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