Posted on March 09, 2015 by Chris Garman
The University of Maryland men's basketball team closed the regular season with a 64-61 win against the University of Nebraska March 8. The No. 10 Terps are now 26-5 and 14-4 in the Big Ten conference. The 26 regular-season wins are the most in program history.
The Terps finished second in the Big Ten standings and will receive a double-round bye during the Big Ten tournament before playing the winner of the Indiana-Northwestern matchup during the quarterfinal round March 13.
Photo Credit: Mitch Stringer/PressBoxThe Terps split their two regular-season meetings with the Hoosiers. Maryland dropped the first game, 89-70, in Bloomington, Ind., Jan. 22. At the time, the Terps were ranked No. 13, while the Hoosiers were ranked No. 23. Indiana junior guard Yogi Farrell scored a game-high 24 points on 7-for-8 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
Maryland avenged that loss in College Park, Md., Feb. 11, grinding out a 68-66 victory behind 18 points each from senior guard/forward Dez Wells and freshman guard Melo Trimble. The victory marked the start of the Terps' current seven-game win streak, making them the first Big Ten team to win their final seven regular-season contests since Wisconsin accomplished the feat during the 2007-08 season.
Maryland needed some late-game heroics from Wells to defeat Northwestern, 68-67, during the two teams' lone meeting this season at Xfinity Center Jan. 25. Wells scored on a tip-in off a missed 3-pointer by Trimble with 1.4 seconds left to propel the Terps to the win.
The Hoosiers and Wildcats met once this season, with the Wildcats notching a 72-65 victory Feb. 25. For the Hoosiers, the loss was the start of the team's current three-game losing skid. As for the Wildcats, they have won five of their last seven games after losing a season-high 10 games from Jan. 4-Feb. 10.
Meanwhile, Maryland, which finished two games behind Wisconsin for the Big Ten's top spot, ranked in the middle of the conference in several key statistical categories. The Terps are seventh in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 63.1 points per game. The Terps are ninth in scoring offense, averaging 69.7 points per outing. They are also seventh in the conference in scoring margin (plus-6.6 points per game), team field goal percentage (44 percent) and rebounding margin (plus-1.7 per contest).
An area where the Terps have excelled, though, is team defense. The team finished second in the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 39.6 percent shooting. Maryland has also taken advantage of its trips to the free-throw line, ranking second in the Big Ten with a 75.7 percent conversion rate.
All season, the Terps have shown the ability to win close games. With the three-point win against the Cornhuskers, the Terps are 10-0 in games decided by six points or fewer. Another factor was their ability to take care of business on their home floor, going 18-1 (9-0 Big Ten) at the Xfinity Center.
"It is pretty amazing," head coach Mark Turgeon said. "There were some games I was confused about how we did it, and I would be confused when looking at the stat sheet after the games. We had a good balance, and it is just pretty amazing. We did not talk about it, but we all knew it was great to finish 9-0 at home. We gained confidence."
Following the team's three-game road losing streak from Jan. 22-Feb. 8, the Terps managed to win their final three road games. Maryland fought through its road struggles, and now will play neutral court games during the postseason. The Terps are 2-0 in such games this season, having earned both wins coming during the CBE Hall of Fame Classic championship against Arizona State Nov. 24 and Iowa State Nov. 25.
The Big Ten tournament concludes March 15, and the Terps will learn their NCAA tournament seed the same day. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Maryland projected to be a No. 3 seed in the East region, but the team could make a strong case for a No. 2 seed if it wins the Big Ten tournament.
Follow Chris on Twitter @Garmelo10
Source: http://www.pressboxonline.com/2015/03/09/terps-cruise-to-big-ten-tournament-on-seven-game-win-streak
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