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Big Ten Basketball: Cassius Winston, Tyler Cook lead All-NCAA Tournament team

By Anthony Brown

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate their teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win the the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate their teams 85-77 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win the the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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COLLEGE PARK, MD – MARCH 03: Bruno Fernando #23 of the Maryland Terrapins dunks the ball in first 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: Bruno Fernando #23 of the Maryland Terrapins dunks the ball in first 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) /

Bruno Fernando – Maryland

2019 NCAA Tournament Stats: 12 PPG, 14 RPG
2018-19 Season Stats: 13.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 60.7 percent shooter from the field

From the moment Bruno Fernando stepped on the Xfinity Center floor in a Maryland Terrapins uniform he brought energy, excitement, and toughness to the program. He finished this season with All-Big Ten First Team and  First-Team and Defensive Team honors which were well deserved. Declaring for the draft last year and coming back was the turning point for his growth as a player. He played hard game in and game out, put up double-doubles left and right. He had 22 double-doubles in 2018.

His best games statistically came against Indiana (25 points, 13 rebounds), Northwestern (22 points, 10 rebounds) Nebraska (18 points, 17 rebounds), Marshall (18 points, 16 rebounds) and Virginia (14 points, 11 rebounds).

Jalen Smith is coming back for his sophomore season. If Bruno decides to come back for his junior year along with Anthony Cowan Jr. for his senior year, the Terps will have three core starters back plus the additions of Mekhi and Makhel Mitchell and Donta Scott.

Next. Top 10 NCAA Tournament games of 2019. dark

The potential of this team if Bruno Fernando stays is high because of that depth and the overall togetherness of the team. The young narrative around this team is gone. If they have all of their pieces back in line, they could do even better than fifth in the Big Ten and have better results in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. This was the first time in a while that I have seen this team as healthy as they were, they played much better on the road and as always gave Maryland fans a show on their home floor.

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