Maryland vs Marquette: 2019 Orlando Invitational game preview, TV schedule
Maryland takes on Marquette in the finals of the Orlando Invitational tournament. Can the Golden Eagles pull off the upset?
TV schedule: Sunday, December 1, 1:00 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: HP Field House in Orlando, Florida
With four of the top-8 ranked teams in the country already losing, no team in safe during “Feast Week”. That nearly including the Maryland Terrapins (7-0), considered a heavy favorite to win this year’s Orlando Invitational.
But they were nearly taken out in the quarterfinals by Temple, needing a 30-point effort by Anthony Cowan to pull ahead in the final minutes. The Terrapins semifinal matchup against Harvard wasn’t much easier, trailing at the half once again before outscoring them by 11 in the second half to win, 80-73. Cowan led the team in scoring once again with 20 points but it was a team effort in the comeback, with both Jalen Smith and Darryl Morsell having double-doubles.
Their opponent though will be Maryland’s toughest test, the 5-1 Marquette Golden Eagles. They took out both Davidson and USC to get to this point, all on the back of the nation’s leading scorer Markus Howard. He dropped 40 points in the win over the Wildcats before putting up a whopping 51 the other night against USC. With his average up to 29.2 ppg, the Terrapins will have their work cut out for them in order to slow down the dynamic senior point guard.
The key to this game, of course, will be how Maryland defends Howard. With the exception of Koby McEwen, the Golden Eagles have no other scorers with the potential of hurting the opponent offensively, look for the Terrapins to force the ball out of the star’s hands and have someone else beat them. Both Cowan and Morsell are good individual defenders and can at least bother Howard but since he can shoot it from 30+ feet, there might not be much they can do without a proper double-team.
As for Marquette, they have to avoid Theo John getting into foul trouble against the Maryland frontcourt players. Besides the talented Smith, the Terrapins have Makhi Mitchell and Ricky Lindo who can cause problems. If John is ineffective on the defensive end, it could be a long day for the Golden Eagles.
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Maryland cannot afford to get behind once again in the Orlando Invitational finale, as Howard has the ability to shoot them out of it. But it almost feels as if Howard has to go for 30+ on efficient numbers just for Marquette to be in a position to get the upset. I believe that the coaching staff has used the 48 hours to at least find a solid way to slow down the star to get the win and the title.