Villanova Basketball: 3 keys to Wildcats taking down Maryland Terrapins

3. Dominate the glass from the jump

What is going to be huge in this one, considering they are fairly even when it comes to size, is who wins the rebounding battle. Yes, this matters in all games, but when these squads come in both desperately needing a win, and with similar frames, effort is going to be needed on the glass.

The Wildcats did not win that battle against the Quakers, losing the rebounding battle 38-35, which cannot happen if they want to beat Maryland. Dixon against 6’8 forward Donta Scott is going to be a fun matchup all night long in this game, which might come down to who wins that duel between them.

Maryland is a good rebounding team, they even won the battle against UAB and Davidson in their losses, they just were not able to shoot well enough or create enough offense to get it done. Their one strength has been their ability to rebound and create second-chance opportunities, Villanova is going to have to shut that down.

Situations like these where lacking that true seven-footer may hurt a team like Villanova, but the trade-off with Dixon is his scoring ability general effort, and athleticism on the floor. This will not be an easy matchup for these Wildcats, but if they take care of the basketball and hold Maryland to as few second-chance opportunities as possible, Villanova should take care of business in these Gavitt Games.