Maryland Basketball: Terps win 5th straight in blowout vs. Michigan State

Maryland basketball is rolling right now. All they are doing is winning. They added another key win late in the season thanks to a cohesive effort in all phases of the game.

These are taking control of their NCAA Tournament destiny with each win. Back in mid-January, this team lost to a No. 7 Michigan Wolverines team 83-67, No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers 61-55, Penn State 55-50, and Ohio State 73-65.

Their NCAA Tournament chances looked bleak.  Since then, they have reinvented themselves, and their defense is the main factor for their rise into the NCAA Tournament discussion. The Terps are now a nine seed in region one.

Early in the season, when Mark Turgeon started to employ the 2-2-1 zone press, I remarked about how much I enjoyed seeing the team get after it defensively. It was fun to watch.

They haven’t used it as much since then, but the energy that it brought remains. When the ball moves in the half-court, bodies move, hands are up, and guys communicate.

It helps that the Terps have guards with long arms to disrupt passing lanes. When the opposing offense gets into the paint, the Terps collapse on the ball, resulting in a turnover or contested shot.

Michigan State, on the other hand, is a different story. They are blue blood in danger of not making the NCAA Tournament along with Kentucky and Duke.

The Spartans were 10-9 in mid-February after their 75-65 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers. They had statement wins against Indiana, No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini, and No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes before the latest loss in College Park. It’s not looking good for them with another matchup against Indiana and home and away with No. 3 Michigan.

The Terps were in control of this game from start to finish. They sealed the deal in style with a 360-dunk by Aaron Wiggins. The 73-55 victory is the latest to keep the buzz around this team going.