Tag Archives: Anthony Cowan

Maryland bounced from Big Ten tournament early after 59-54 loss to Wisconsin

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Coming off of an embarrassing loss to Michigan on senior day, the Maryland Terrapins were tasked with winning four games in four consecutive days if they wanted to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the fourth year in a row.

As the #9 seed in the Big Ten, Maryland was set to face off against Wisconsin on Thursday. When these teams met earlier in the year, the Terps were able to walk away with a 68-63 win. The Terps looked to do the same on Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Mark Turgeon’s team played with a lot of energy and speed for almost the entire forty minutes but in the end, the Badgers picked up the crucial baskets in crunch time to secure a 59-54 win and a date with Michigan State on Friday.

Depth concerns have circled around Maryland for months now. In that time, a lot of close games have been lost by the Terps and changes clearly needed to be made if they were going to turn things around. The teams scoring leaders, Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter, helped with this by stepping out of the spotlight in a few games down the stretch. However, with their season on the line, the two knew they had to show up on Thursday in order to get the Terps into the next round.

Cowan and Huerter jump started the Terps offense by being involved in the teams first 16 points. Through the first 12 minutes of play, the sophomore duo either scored or assisted every Maryland basket. As the game continued the two would not shy away from their leadership roles. Cowan scored 16 and was dominate in transition, helping to keep the Terps on pace with the Badgers. Huerter led the team with 20 points while shooting 8-15 from the field.

To give you an idea of what kind of game this was, consider this. Both teams combined to make just five three pointers in the entire game but didn’t seem too concerned with that. Transition play and rebounding were the real keys to each teams success. As expected, Ethan Happ gave Maryland some trouble under the basket. The junior forward led the Badgers with 14 points and seven rebounds.

After holding a 28-26 advantage at halftime, the Badgers were able to hold on to their lead by getting to the foul line. Wisconsin went 20-24 at the line while the Terps only had nine opportunities for free points. Throw in a 12-7 turnover disadvantage and you can see what led to the Terps downfall.

Despite this, Maryland was right in the game right up until the final seconds expired off the clock. With under 10 seconds to play, Huerter tried driving to the rim for the tying score but ended up getting fouled in the process. The Terps needed him to sink two but an extended stoppage in play before the shot attempts seemed to bother Huerter as he missed the front half of the free throws.

The Badgers spent a lot of time changing player positions in the paint prior to the free throw attempts and the refs allowed them to do so while Huerter was forced to stand their and wait. Before taking the first shot, cameras showed the sophomore clapping and asking the ref for the ball with a frustrated look on his face.

After this miss, the Badgers were able to sink their free throws and take a three-point lead before forcing a turnover and putting the game on ice. This marks the fourth time in the past eight years that the Terps have missed the NCAA tournament. They have also only made the NIT once under Mark Turgeon. Their future is still up in the air after failing to finish above .500 in conference play and then making an early exit from the Big Ten tourney.

We will be here for any potential games left this season for the Maryland Terrapins. Thank you for reading and following the team with us. Lets hope for a more exciting and injury free season in 2018-19.

Image credit: Mary Altaffer / AP

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Fernando feasts on Scarlet Knights, helps Terps hold on for 61-51 win

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Last Saturday Maryland pulled out their gold uniforms for their matchup against Northwestern. The result was a dominate 73-57 win, so why not do the same this week? The Terps decided to don the Gold once again and the result was another win. This time Maryland took down a basement dwelling Rutgers team 61-51.

Bruno Fernando was the clear leader for the Terps in this one, finishing with 18 points and a career high 16 rebounds. The freshman even scored the first three pointer of his career on a wide open look in the second half.

After their victory over Northwestern last week I said that this Maryland team has looked different as of late. Not only do I think that stands after this one, but I think it’s clear that the team has made major adjustments down the stretch. Unfortunately, these changes are coming a little too late as the Terps will have to win out just to get to .500 in the conference.

The Terps have found success in recent games by spreading the ball around and trusting each other on offense. We all know that the team is shorthanded because of injuries but you have no choice but to trust the guys you have at this point because you can’t win with the same two players shooting the ball 17-20 times a game.

This trust has resulted in a well-balanced offensive attack that features consistent scoring from all five starters and a couple of bench players, depending on the game. This was on full display right at the beginning of the game when the Terps took a 10-0 lead. Maryland took just four minutes to jump out to this lead and their first five baskets were scored by a five different players.

Anthony Cowan also had a standout night and really got a chance to run the Terps offense while taking a backseat when it came to shooting. The sophomore still put up 14 points but only shot the ball ten times. Instead, Cowan was able to help the Terps with six assists and five steals.

As the first half progressed the Terps continued to pass the ball well but more importantly, they protected the ball. Maryland went 11 minutes without a turnover and finished the first half with just two. Rutgers, on the other hand, coughed up the ball seven times. All of this was a recipe for a 31-19 Maryland lead at the half.

For a majority of the second half it looked like the Terps were going to run the Scarlet Knights off the court. Maryland started the second half with another 10-0 run and even had a 24 point lead at one point. However, with the clock approaching five minutes to play, Rutgers didn’t roll over and made things interesting with a 10-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to just nine.

In the end Maryland would close out the game like any good team does. They held the ball and trusted themselves to make the necessary baskets even with a dwindling shot clock. Rutgers maintained a high level of energy through the final minuets but the comeback was shutdown once Maryland got to the free throw line.

The Terps will have a quick turnaround as they prepare to play Northwestern again on Monday night. The Wildcats are coming off of one of the worst second half performances in Big Ten history. Playing without Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern scored just 11 points in the second half, allowing the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans to erase a 27 point defect and win the game 65-60.

The Terps handled their business when they hosted Northwestern last weekend but we all know how bad they are away from home. You can only hope that this devastating loss rattles the Wildcats and impacts them on a short turnaround.

Image credit: Nick Wass / Associated Press

Terps are good as gold in 73-57 win over Northwestern

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Coming off of a 74-70 loss to Penn State, the Maryland Terrapins needed a good performance to jump-start the final stretch of their season. With the Northwestern Wildcats in town on Saturday, the Terps were able to put together one of their best all around games in conference play for a convincing 73-57 win.

Kevin Huerter led the way with 22 points but there was no shortage of offensive production for Maryland. In Wednesday’s loss against the Nittany Lions, Maryland played great on offense but didn’t find an answer for Penn State’s shooters. Saturday’s win over Northwestern felt like the natural progression from Wednesday as the Terps added a great defensive performance to accompany the scoring.

Three other Maryland starters finished with double-digit scoring numbers. Darryl Morsell continues to stand out among that group. I saw him grind out some tough baskets against Penn State and he continued to play very well against the Wildcats with 14 points while going 7-10 from the field. As a freshman playing more minutes than he expected, Morsell continues to improve every time he steps on the court. Even though Huerter and Anthony Cowan scored more points, Morsell was the anchor for the Terps with three assists and nine rebounds.

Maryland finished the game shooting just under 53% from the field. Right from the opening tip the Terps looked primed for a great offensive afternoon. Huerter scored 12 of his 22 points in the first five minutes while going 3-3 from beyond the arc and the team continued to shoot over 50% for a majority of the game.

As I said earlier, Maryland was also very locked in on defense. The Wildcats struggled to get open looks all afternoon and only remained in the game thanks to some decent three-point shooting. The Terps racked up seven blocks and forced 13 turnovers to fluster the Wildcats. Northwestern would finish the game shooting 33% with just seven assists as a team.

I think one of the biggest defensive accomplishments for Maryland was keeping Bryant McIntosh under control. The Wildcats senior point guard has given the Terps a lot of trouble in the past but couldn’t even get on the board in Saturdays contest. McIntosh went 0-5 with just one assist and three turnovers.

After watching these past two games, it’s clear that Maryland’s success moving forward will depend on the their ability to share the ball. The team’s top scorers are playing close to a full 40 mins every three to four days and simply can’t be relied on to shoot the ball over 15 times a game. With guys like Morsell, Dion Wiley and Jared Nickens putting together good offensive performances, the pressure can come off of Cowan and Huerter. The Terps offense has definitely been running a lot smoother recently with 30 of their last 52 baskets coming via an assist.

Up next for the Terps is a trip to Lincoln Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is currently on the fringe of qualifying for a trip to the NCAA tournament so they cannot afford to drop one at home. Maryland has also struggled on the road this season, winning just one game away from home in Big Ten play.

Image credit: Nick Wass / AP