Maryland Basketball Not Playing Like Championship Contenders

Maryland basketball suffered its worst defeat of the season last night in a 68-63 loss to a Minnesota team that was previously winless in the Big Ten Conference.

Sports have a way of slapping you in the face sometimes. Earlier this week, I wrote how the Maryland Terrapins were right to suspend Diamond Stone for his actions in the loss to Wisconsin. That they would not need Stone to beat a Minnesota team that was winless in the conference.

“That’s why they play the game.”

It’s a cliche that we here far too often in sports. However, it is almost always right. Just when you think you know that a team is getting an easy win, the other team has the game of their season and takes the other down. The classic David vs. Goliath showdown. The Terps found out first hand what happens when you overlook an opponent.

It was a stunning upset for Minnesota to defeat the sixth-ranked Terps, 68-63, as more than a 10,000 fans rushed the court at Williams Arena to celebrate. It was the Gophers first Big Ten win of the season and first victory in over two months. Their last win came on Dec. 16 against Chicago State.

Rasheed Sulaimon had another great performance, scoring 28 points for the Terps. The rest of the team did little, including Melo Trimble, who only scored 10 points. Turnovers were once again a problem as they turned the ball over 15 times. They have lost two straight for the first time all season and now enter a tough four-game stretch to finish the regular season.

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Now we are left to wonder what to make of this Maryland team. It was clear from the opening tip that the Terps were not focused on the task at hand and the Gophers responded by drilling seven 3-point attempts in the first 10 minutes if the game. This is not the first time Mark Turgeon’s squad came out flat, but they have gotten away with it for much of the season. That wasn’t the case Thursday night.

There has to be something wrong with Trimble. He has not played like the All American we are used to since sustaining a hamstring injury against Rutgers last month. He is 7 for 38 in the past four games and has scored 39 points. The free-throw line is where Trimble continues to make his mark as 23 of those 39 points have come from the charity stripe.

Maryland also is expecting more from the rest of the starting lineup. Jake Layman finished with 11 points, which trailed only Sulaimon, while Robert Carter added eight points and nine rebounds. They needed bigger games from both with Diamond Stone on the sidelines.

The loss to Minnesota pushes Maryland out of a first-place tie with Indiana and Iowa. It also hurts Maryland’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament which is a more crushing blow. The Terps have their work cut out for them with Michigan, Purdue and Illinois due up before they play at Assembly Hall in the last game of the season. That could decide the winner of the Big Ten if Iowa should stumble again, and help their NCAA tournament seeding.

Last night was a perfect example of why you play every game just as hard as the last. A team can beat you on any given night and maybe the Terps needed that kind of wake-up call to get them jump started. They have been playing lackadaisical and getting away with it, but that’s not the pedigree to win a championship.

Next: Terps Made Right Decision to Suspend Diamond Stone

On paper, this Maryland team has the talent to first win the conference and then follow it up with a national championship run. Let’s just hope that Turgeon can light a fire that gets the Terps rolling as we inch closer to March.

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