NCAA Basketball: Dominant LSU, Anthony’s return and more weekly takeaways

6) Maryland’s X-factor

Maryland, like seemingly the rest of the Big Ten, has been hot and cold all season long. When they’re on, the Terps look like a legitimate national championship contender. Just ask Iowa, who was dismantled by Maryland on Thursday.

However, the Hawkeyes are also the perfect example of how cold Mark Turgeon’s squad can be, as Iowa beat them by 18 points in their first matchup back on January 10th.

Some of that inconsistency comes with playing at home vs. being on the road, but a lot of it has to do with the scoring they get from the supporting cast around Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith. And the focus of that really centers on the play of sophomore wing Aaron Wiggins.

Maryland has good size and tremendous athleticism, but they aren’t a great shooting team. They only make 31.7 percent of their attempts from three-point range, which ranks 248th in the country. Cowan leads the Terps in three-point makes and attempts (as you’d expect), and Wiggins is second in both categories. A lot of his role offensively is to be the kind of shooter defenses have to respect, in turn spacing the floor for Cowan and Smith.

When he’s on, Maryland’s offense works. They’re 12-1 this season when he makes multiple three-pointers. On the flip side, when only makes one three or less, the Terrapins are only 5-3 (and three of those wins were over Holy Cross, Fairfield, and Temple).

If you want to know the kind of night it’ll be for Maryland, just pay attention to how Wiggins is shooting from deep. He may not be this team’s most important player, but he is the key to unlocking their ceiling.