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Maryland Basketball: Terps beat Marquette to win 2019 Orlando Invitational

By Anthony Brown

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - MARCH 23: The Maryland Terrapins bench celebrates as they take on the LSU Tigers during the second half of the game in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Vystar Memorial Arena on March 23, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - MARCH 23: The Maryland Terrapins bench celebrates as they take on the LSU Tigers during the second half of the game in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Vystar Memorial Arena on March 23, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Maryland Basketball is now 8-0 heading into the Big Ten-ACC Challenge after beating the Marquette Golden Eagles to win the Orlando Invitational.

The Orlando Invitational championship game gave college basketball fans an exciting matchup to watch on Sunday between Maryland Basketball and the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Who was going to be the better point guard: Anthony Cowan Jr. or Markus Howard?

The Marquette Golden Eagles came into this game at 5-1. They were the benefactor of stellar performances from Howard who scored 40 vs Davidson and 51 points against USC to get here.

Fifth-ranked Maryland basketball was 7-0 and got here behind solid scoring outings from Cowan Jr. (30 vs. Temple, 20 vs. Harvard).

The Terps number one priority was stopping Howard from having another explosive game. How would they do that was the question. Darryl Morsell is the Terps best defender, but they would need to do several things defensively to slow Howard down.

Would they stick multiple guys on him? Would they switch up between man and zone defense?

Offensively, Maryland basketball has developed a habit of getting behind in the first half of games and having to fight back in the second half to win.

Terps Head Coach Mark Turgeon was not happy about how they started the game against Harvard. The Crimson set the tone of the game early. If the Golden Eagles did the same, things could have gotten ugly.

The game started with a three-pointer made by both teams and two blocked shots by Jalen Smith on Golden Eagle Forward Theo John.

While the Terps were doing a good job of defending Howard by switching different guys on him in a zone defense, offensively, they turned the ball over three times with 14:13 left in the first half. The score was 9-7 Golden Eagles.

Howard got his first points splitting a trap on the perimeter and converted a running layup over  Makhi Mitchell.

The Terps jumped out to a seven-point lead, 18-11 after Eric Ayala threw a cross-court pass to Donta Scott. That was followed by a Morsell three-pointer to push their lead to 10, 21-11.

The defense was the name of Maryland’s game thus far. Smith had three blocks under nine minutes to go in the first half.

At the 7:29 mark, Morsell had eight points and five rebounds. Cowan Jr. had six points. Howard was struggling thanks to the Terps defense. He had two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

The Terps making Howard work for every shot was paying dividends. He was uncomfortable and that led to him not being as efficient as the last two games in the tournament.

The half ended with a deep three in the final seconds by Cowan Jr. This gave the Terps a 42-21 lead over the Golden Eagles.

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Maryland basketball was 6-of-12 (50 percent) from behind the three-point line and caused 11 Marquette turnovers.

Cowan Jr. led the way for the Terps with 13 points and two assists. Morsell had eight points and seven rebounds. Smith had four points, three rebounds, and three blocks.

Marquette’s leading scorer was Forward Brendan Bailey with 13 points, three rebounds, and an assist.

The Terps set the pace of this game early and this was by far their best half of basketball in terms of defensive pressure and converting on their opportunities offensively.

Aaron Wiggins drove the lane and skied for a one-handed slam to get the HP Field House crowd excited. Morsell followed that up with a dribble-drive of his own for a layup. Maryland basketball had a 24-point lead, 48-24, with 18:07 to go in the second half.

Marquette was trying to make a comeback. The Terps lead was cut to 14, 52-38. Defensively, the Golden Eagles switched to a 3-2 zone which didn’t allow for easy access in the paint.

At the 11:41 mark, Cowan Jr. had 20 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Morsell had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Bailey had 19 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Golden Eagles followed by Sacar Anim’s 11 points.

A scoring drought from Maryland and a three-pointer from Bailey put this game within 12. With Howard struggling, Bailey carried the scoring load to this point. It wasn’t enough. The score was 73-58 with 3:36 to go and Maryland basketball was in the driver seat.

Maryland basketball is the Orlando Invitational champion with a final score of 84-63. They won this game behind outstanding defense in the first half. They contained runs by Marquette in the second.

Cowan Jr. finished with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Morsell finished with another double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Wiggins had 15 points and six rebounds.

Bailey finished with 27 points and six rebounds followed by Anim’s 21.

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Cowan Jr. got the best of Howard and the Terps had their best three-game stretch this season. Defense won this game for the Terps. They passed another test and have momentum going into the Big Ten-ACC Challenge with Notre Dame on Wednesday.

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