Maryland Basketball: Biggest Takeaways from Terps’ Win vs. Cleveland State

Nov 28, 2015; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Rasheed Sulaimon (0) and guard Melo Trimble (2) talk during the game against the Cleveland State Vikings at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

After a slow start, the Terps never looked back against Cleveland State.

The Maryland Terrapins basketball team improved to 6-0 on the season after their 80-63 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday night. The Vikings gave the Terps a bit of a fight in the early going, but Maryland eventually went on to establish dominance over their opponents. Here are the biggest takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Jared Nickens is one of the best 6th men in the country

One of the most important components of a basketball team is the sixth man. The Terps have a pretty good one by the way. Nickens had himself a night against Cleveland State, putting up 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, to go along with two assists and a rebound in 27 minutes. He had been in a bit of a slump to start the season, but was able to find his rhythm on Saturday. When he’s at his best, he is capable of being a starter for most teams.

Terps do well with adversity

The more and more Maryland plays, the more it becomes apparent that this team performs well under pressure. On multiple occasions this season, the Terps have been in situations where their backs were against the ropes or a game was tighter than they had expected. But, each time, they were able to bounce back and come away with a win (see Georgetown game). That’s called resiliency. Great teams don’t fold under pressure, but perform better when the pressure is applied.

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Stone and Carter coming into their own

Diamond Stone and Robert Carter Jr. are both in their first season with the Terps. But, it appears that neither one is having trouble adjusting to the change of scenery. Carter finished two rebounds shy of a double-double against Cleveland State (17 points and 8 rebounds). People expected him to be a factor this season, but he may be even better than expected. Stone, the true freshman, had his breakout game, scoring a season-high 15 points. Carter and Stone are getting comfortable playing alongside one another and it’s a beautiful thing.

Next up for Maryland is No. 9 North Carolina on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.