Maryland basketball and the Penn State Nittany Lions face off this week as each team looks to win their second conference matchup of the 2019-20 season.
Who: Penn State Nittany Lions 7-2, (0-1) vs. 3. Maryland Terrapins 10-0, (1-0)
When: Tuesday, December 10th at 7 PM ET
Where: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania
TV Schedule: ESPN2
Third-ranked Maryland basketball survived a nail biter over the Illinois Illini, 59-58, after Anthony Cowan Jr.’s late-game heroics prevented an upset.
Cowan Jr. finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Jalen Smith had a 14 point, 13 rebound double-double and Darryl Morsell finished with 10 points. This game really came down to who wanted it more.
Neither team shot exceptionally well from the field or behind the three-point line. The rebounding margin was very close, but the Illini had the edge 41-39. Where the tide turned for the Terps was the 8:20 mark in the second half. Morsell knocked down a three-ball assisted by Cowan Jr. that ignited the Xfinity Center crowd.
After Smith made a shot to cut the lead to seven, 57-50, with 4:16 left in the game, the Terps went on a 9-2 run to shut down the Illini’s chance at an upset.
.@AnthonyCowanJr ALL THE ONIONS! pic.twitter.com/lr7Xo9pXSt
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) December 8, 2019
Finals seconds of Terp comeback. Xfinity is lit. 🐢🐢🐢 pic.twitter.com/2fCzKyzbaP
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) December 8, 2019
The Penn State Nittany Lions come into this matchup with the Terps after a blowout loss to a really solid Ohio State Buckeyes team. The Nittany Lions won their first six games this season and have gone 2-2 in their last four games.
They are led by Forwards Lamar Stevens (16.8 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game) Mike Watkins (10.7 PPG, 9.2 RPG) and guard Myreon Jones (13.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG).
Stevens is a player who can shoot the three-ball, rebound, and create his own shot in the paint. Watkins is a more traditional forward, but he can still hurt an opposing defense on any given night.
Where Penn State struggles defensively is when their opponent moves the ball well and gets open shots as a result. Ohio State did a tremendous job of that and many of their three-point shots hit the bottom of the net. Maryland’s issue is the lack of ball movement when they can’t get access to the post. They become one-dimensional and the ball stands still leading to the game clock running down and a three-point shot being hoisted up.
It will be interesting to see how ball movement and points in the paint play a role in this game.