What to Watch for as Maryland Men's Basketball Enters Big Ten Play
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It's a New Year for Maryland Athletics, and that means new challenges for first-year head coach Buzz Williams and Terps hoops. The first of those challenges is tonight: a 7:30 tip at home against the Oregon Ducks to mark the start of conference play.
Maryland went 7-4 in out-of-conference matchups, with losses to ranked Gonzaga and Alabama teams at the Players' Era tournament in Las Vegas and also one at Virginia. Their early Big Ten contests at Iowa and against No. 2 Michigan also ended in the loss column.
The next two-plus months won't be easy for the Terrapins: they're currently set to face seven more AP Top 25 squads the rest of the way. If they want to be in the postseason picture, there are a few key areas of play to monitor.
Finding More Ways to Score Inside
A small positive for the Terps so far has been their perimeter shooting. They're middle-of-the-pack among Big Ten squads with a 34.3% shooting rate from outside the arc.
The same can't be said for the rest of their offensive play. Nationally, the Terps rank 335th of 365 teams with a 41.3% overall clip. Only Rutgers and Boston College are lower rated scorers among power conference teams.
Much of their marginal success there is thanks to Pharrel Payne's work in the paint, but the transfer senior - who has been sidelined since December 13th with a right knee injury - can't be the go-to guy every night. The longer he is out, the more pressure will be placed on guards David Colt and Darius Adams outside, forcing Maryland towards the mid-range game.
Cutting Down on Miscues
Maryland's defense - both in terms of opponent's overall shooting and 3-point percentage - is currently the worst in the conference. The group has also allowed the most turnovers per game (13.7) among Big Ten teams.
There's no clear-cut way to address this, as Coach Williams has been trying different rotations all season to little avail, but the simple fact is that the Terps are allowing too many prime scoring opportunities.
Fortunately for them, Oregon is barely above them in most offensive categories, setting up an easier introduction to the grueling second half then many of their conference mates are getting.
Playing the Full 40 Minutes
If there's been one constant for this team so far, it's their tendency to play much stronger in one half of a game.
A five-point halftime lead in the Michigan game evaporated with a 23-point deficit afterwards. They nearly collapsed in a buy game with Mount St. Mary's, narrowly salvaging a win in overtime following a second-half slide. The offense was flat from the jump against Georgetown and Iowa, with rallies coming up short in the end.
Many of the Terps' future opponents have been playing complete games with little issue. It'll likely take an equally complete performance to pull off any upsets in the coming weeks.
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Mike joined Sports Illustrated with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball, he returned to the college landscape with Maryland On SI.