Friday night’s win was a reminder of Michigan’s potential. A second victory in the Big Ten Tournament would speak even louder:
With seemingly everything going against them heading into the postseason, the Michigan Wolverines decided that the story needed to change. An impressive win over Purdue earned a spot in Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinals, with a chance for vengeance. Michigan fell to the Maryland Terrapins earlier this month, but now has the opportunity to right that wrong and make it into the championship game on Sunday.
Winning this one will be easier said than done. It felt a little sneaky, but Maryland actually finished tied (with the Wolverines) for second in the Big Ten and earned the No. 2 seed. Despite a better season and — slightly — higher KenPom ranking, I imagine most Michigan fans were happy to see the Terps take down Illinois. However, this one is going to be a battle against another top squad in the conference.
No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (23-9, 14-6) vs. No. 2 Maryland Terrapins (25-7, 14-6)
Date & Time: Saturday, March 15, 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indianapolis, IN
TV/Streaming: CBS
Maryland absolutely blitzed the Illini, scoring 57 points (!!) in the first half and never looking back. While this team can score, its calling card is the other end of the floor, which also showed up Friday, holding Illinois to 0.77 PPP in the opening frame; KenPom sees the Terps defense as sixth-best in the country, which Michigan experienced firsthand 10 days ago in Ann Arbor.
The Crab Five has famously led the way this season, with the five starters all averaging double-figures and no one else even at 4.0 PPG. However, Jordan Geronimo came off the bench against the Illini and had his best game of the year, and he and the rest of the rotation played important minutes, giving the starters a lighter workload thanks to the blowout.
Typically, Maryland is going to win with defense, which was the case in the teams’ first matchup. Michigan dug itself out of a hole but simply could not hit enough shots to get ahead. Turnovers were once again a big issue and helped the Terps get some buckets in transition, but the real challenge was just nothing flowing on offense — though both Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf had 20 points, there was very little else working that night.
Two Things to Watch
The story on Friday for Michigan was good ball movement and good enough shooting. While the threes still struggled a bit and poor finishing early left points on the table, the offense looked reenergized in a way it had not since the last win over Purdue and really came alive in the second half. Against Maryland this will be critical given the defense’s intensity.
Perhaps most encouraging was the contributions from across the lineup. Tre Donaldson (13 points) and Roddy Gayle (11) were very solid, and LJ Cason had a big impact even with a modest box score. The Wolverines are unlikely to repeat Friday’s 1.30 PPP, but if players aside from Goldin and Wolf show up again, it could be enough to keep this thing rolling.
It was not a great performance, but the Wolverines did only lose by six when these teams met in Ann Arbor. Cleaning up some of the mistakes is both crucial and potentially enough to get some revenge in Indianapolis. Michigan absolutely cannot give the Maryland offense easy and extra opportunities via turnovers and offensive rebounds. Points will be hard to come by, so no need to make the test tougher.
Neutral-site games always tax shooting, and both teams are bound to regress a bit from Friday. That is why the fundamentals are so essential in this one — Maryland’s defense is absolutely going to show up, so the Wolverines must hold up their end of the bargain as well. Show some aggression and attack the rim, but this is a game where self-inflicted wounds will just be too much to overcome.