Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball: Biggest winners and losers from Week 1 of 2023-24 season

By Jerran Anderson

Michigan Wolverines guard Dug McDaniel (0) drives to the basket during the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at United Center in Chicago. Rutgers Scarlet Knights won 62-50.Ruum030923 Am9069
Michigan Wolverines guard Dug McDaniel (0) drives to the basket during the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at United Center in Chicago. Rutgers Scarlet Knights won 62-50.Ruum030923 Am9069 /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /

Losers: Maryland Terrapins

The Maryland Terrapins kicked their season off in College Park with a victory over Mount St. Mary’s 68-53 as it looked like it’d be a positive one for them. Julian Reese finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocks while Jahmir Young and newcomer DeShawn Harris-Smith finished with 12 points apiece and combined for six assists in the victory. It’s when they traveled away from the Xfinity Center that things went in the opposite direction.

The Terrapins traveled to the Asheville Championship and took two losses to the Davidson Wildcats and the UAB Blazers. Now, there’s no need to panic just yet, but with four days to prepare for Villanova, the focus will need to be on improving their perimeter shooting.

Things were rocky from the start for Maryland against the Wildcats in the opening round. Davidson jumped out to a 15-9 lead and just kept on hitting timely shots. They shot 8-for-15 from deep (53.3 percent) as a team while the Terrapins shot 5-of-23 from behind the arc.

A 3-pointer from Bobby Durkin with 13 seconds left would lift the Wildcats to a 64-61 lead and in the end, would be the final score in a shocker. Durkin led the bench with 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep. Davidson was picked to finish 12th in the Atlantic 10 by national media outlets.

UAB led by as many as 12 late in the second half before the Terrapins made a late run, getting as close as two points with 10 seconds left but a late free throw would give UAB their final point and seal things from there. The Blazers scored 22 points off Maryland’s 15 turnovers in their 66-63 victory on Sunday afternoon. Maryland shot 6-of-23 from deep as a team against the Blazers.

Next. Latest top-25 power rankings. dark

Following two straight losses, the Terrapins will need to bounce back on Friday against Villanova in the Gavitt Games. They’ve shown they can battle until the end in games but they’ll need to convert on their 3-point makes on Friday or it could be another long one for them. Maryland is currently shooting 22.2 percent from 3-point range through three games.

Home/Big Ten