Maryland Basketball: Keys to victory against Michigan State Spartans

Maryland Basketball has the chance to pull off a major upset against the Michigan State Spartans. What are the keys for the Terps to pull it off?

When: Tuesday, Feb. 1 || 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: XFINITY Center || College Park, Md.
Watch: ESPN2 – Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play), Robbie Hummel (Analyst), Myron Medcalf (Reporter)

Ok, Maryland fans, there is no way to sugarcoat this, so I am just going to come out and say it. Have the Terps given up and thrown in the towel for the 2021 – 2022 basketball season. After conference victories against #17 Illinois, 81-65, and Rutgers 68-60 and things were looking like they were heading in the right direction.

The Terps were playing well and the offense was clicking and shooting very well. The leaders of the team were playing lights out, which elevated everyone else’s game. Terps fans were feeling good and starting to have some hope to turn the season around. And then Indiana came to town.

In what I think has to be the turning point of the season, the Terps (11-10, 3-7 Big 10) played probably the worst game of the season as the Hoosiers (16-5, 7-4 Big 10) came into College Park and just destroyed the Terps in College Park 68-55. Maryland looked like the Terps of a few weeks ago, as they were 16-57 (28%) and 6-27 (22%) from the three-point line. They were settling for jump shots, the offense was lackluster and the defense just didn’t seem to have any intensity.

So, the Terps are going to have put that game behind them as things do not get any easier as the #10 Michigan State comes to College Park for a conference showdown, as the Spartans (16-4, 7-2 Big 10) come off a big victory against rival Michigan this past Saturday 83-67.

The Spartans are second in the Big 10 in scoring offense (75.0 ppg), fourth in scoring defense 64/5 ppg), and are leading the league in field goal percentage (.479) and field goal percentage defense (.376). So what do the Terp’s need to do to pull off the upset?

First and foremost, the Terps have to get good looks on the offensive side of the ball. Maryland coach Danny Manning has stressed “Paint Touches”, which has proven to be the right formula, as in wins against Illinois and Rutgers, the Terps got the ball inside to Qudus Wahab and Julian Reece and worked the inside out game, which lead to Eric Ayala, Donta Scott and Fatts Russell getting some good looks and they cashed in on those looks as they were shooting lights out. Against Indiana, the “paint touches” were non-existent and the results speak for themselves.

The Terps are going to have to win the battle of the boards as both Michigan State and Maryland are tops in the conference in rebounding offense, rebounding defense, and rebounding margin. Maryland is going to have make it one and done and to crash the offensive boards. The Spartans are very efficient on both ends of the floor, so the Terps will have to win the battle of boards. The Terps can’t afford to give the Spartans more chances than they should have. Hopefully, the Terps can make them pay.

The last thing they need to do…is, oh yeah get “PAINT TOUCHES”. Did I already say that?. I’m not sure if you heard me. I said “PAINT TOUCHES” The Terps need to get those “paint touches” as the inside-out game seems to be working. They need to move the ball and not settle for threes, as well as getting the Spartans big men in foul trouble as the Terps are second in the Big 10 in free throw percent at 76% behind league leader Michigan State (77%).

I am not going to lie, this will be a tough game for the Terps and will be a struggle. The Terps can win if they play the way they did against Illinois and Rutgers, but on the other side of the coin, if they play the way they did against Indiana, this game could be over by halftime.

For me, tonight’s game will determine the rest of the season and will be the turning point. If the Terps just roll over, we can say that the season is over, but if the Terps have some fight in them and pull off the upset, it is possible the Terps could maybe make the NIT.