Maryland Looks to Bounce Back at Purdue

Jan 7, 2015; Champaign, IL, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Dion Wiley (5), forward Jonathan Graham (25), and guard Jared Nickens (11) during the game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports

The Terps had to lose at some point, right? Maryland suffered their first Big Ten defeat Wednesday night as they fell on the road to Illinois. They’ve had their time to reflect, but now it’s time to move on as they travel to Purdue to face a dangerous Boilermakers team that gave the fourth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers a fight the same night.

One loss should not knock the Terps too far down in the rankings, but even that is irrelevant. I see this game as a must-win for this team because despite their hot start, they need to prove that they can handle adversity. How a team responds following a loss truly shows the character of that team. It will be another tough test, however, as Purdue is a 10-6 team, with a 2-1 record in Big Ten Play, and much like the Illini, the Boilermakers are heavily slept on.

If Maryland is going to beat the Boilermakers, three things must happen for Maryland:

1. Attack the Basket:

In Wednesday’s contest against Illinois, the Terps that we have watched all season long were nowhere to be found. This is a team that prides themselves on being aggressive and getting to the free throw line. Going into the game, Maryland had averaged 25.7 free throw attempts a game and they were knocking them down at a solid rate of 74.9 percent. Against the Illini, they only got to the stripe 18 times, converting on just 10 of those attempts. Maryland will need to be much more aggressive on the offensive end if they want to win on Saturday.

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2. Defend the Paint

The Terps have done a fairly decent job with post defense thus far this season, but they will have their work cut out for them Saturday afternoon with the bigs of Purdue. The Boilermakers are led by NBA prospect A.J. Hammons. The 7’0″ center is averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and he leads the team in shot attempts.

Hammons is a name many people know, but one player most probably haven’t heard of is 7’2″ Freshman Isaac Haas. Haas is also averaging 10.4 points a contest. Matching up against two monstrous big men is no small task, but the Terrapins must be able to contain them somehow.

Mark Turgeon loves to challenge Damonte Dodd, Jon Graham, and Michal Cekovsky, so we’ll likely see them guard Hammons and Haas one-on-one. It will be interesting to see how they respond.

3. Light it Up

Maryland has enjoyed plenty of success from behind the arc this season, shooting 36.2 percent on the year. On the other hand, for Purdue, the three-ball has not been so kind to them. The Boilermakers have allowed opposing teams to shoot 37.8 percent from downtown this season, so the Terps should definitely look to take advantage of Purdue’s shaky perimeter defense. Maryland has a number of guys who have proven they can stroke it from deep, and if they are on, it will be hard for them to lose this one.

Winning at Purdue on Saturday certainly won’t turn any heads, nor wipe away the Illinois loss, but what it will do is restore confidence to a young basketball team. Quite honestly, the loss was good for this team. The Terps were on a roll and feeling really good about themselves, so losing a game like that had to be a humbling experience. It showed them that they still have a long way to go before they can be taken seriously as an elite team. A win here will get this team back on track, and as long as they focus on their three keys, I expect a big bounce back win for the Terps.

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