The Maryland men’s basketball team was ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25 poll at the start of the season. While it has struggled significantly throughout the season, the group had been playing better basketball recently, showing glimpses of a possible strong showing in the Big Ten tournament.
But the Terps struggled early in the regular-season finale at Michigan State, and while they were able to fight back in the second half, it was not enough. Maryland (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten) fell, 77-67, to Michigan State (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten) at the Breslin Center March 6.
The Terps and Spartans will play again in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis on Thursday, March 10.
“We have to pull the good and have a short memory and get prepared to go on a run once we get to Indy,” Maryland interim head coach Danny Manning said.
Michigan State won the jump ball and got things rolling first. Senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. scored the first basket, a dunk on a fast break, only eight seconds into the game. Not long after, graduate guard Fatts Russell turned the ball over, sending Michigan State senior forward Gabe Brown on a fast break. Brown made the layup, forced a foul and made the ensuing free throw for a 5-0 lead.
The Spartans jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead not even three minutes in. Maryland’s struggles continued throughout much of the first half. The team could not find any consistency offensively or defensively.
Junior guard Hakim Hart ended Maryland’s scoring drought about five minutes into the game with a free throw. But it did not matter, as junior forward Malik Hall immediately responded with a jumper. The Spartans got out to an 18-1 lead to start the game.
“You can’t start the game 18-1 in the opposing team’s building,” Russell said. “We competed at a high level in the second half, but that has to be for the full 40 minutes.”
As Michigan State continued to build its lead, the Terps’ struggles only worsened. Maryland did not make its first field goal until 11 minutes remained in the first half. It came from Hart on a fast break. That basket made the Terps 1-for-15 from the floor.
Shortly after, Russell hit a pair of free throws that put the Terps within 13 points (18-5) of the Spartans. Russell finished the game with 16 points.
“Fatts is a young man that’s scored over 2,000 points in his career,” Manning said. “Defensively, he always does a good job of trying to pressure the basketball and be disruptive to their offensive flow. He was really active. Had great anticipation, great timing and got his hands on some balls and got in transition and gave us a chance to do some things to cut into that lead.”
Later on in the half, junior forward Donta Scott broke a nearly two-minute scoring drought to place the Terps within 15 points (28-13) of Michigan State, but the Spartans responded with another five points.
Maryland generated some consistency toward the end of the first half, thanks to baskets from Russell, Scott and junior center Qudus Wahab, but Michigan State continued to dominate on both ends of the court and had an answer for nearly every Maryland move.
The Terps trailed, 46-26, at the end of the first half. They shot 28 percent from the field and 7 percent from behind the arc during the half. The lone deep shot came from Russell.
“We have to make sure we don’t put ourselves in that situation moving forward,” Manning said. “It’s just too big of a hole to overcome.”
Manning told his team at halftime that it had to do a better job of finishing the fight in the second half.
The Terps started the second half much stronger, with Ayala leading the way. Ayala drilled two consecutive 3-pointers to get his team within 14 points of the Spartans (46-32). Maryland went on a 10-0 run to begin the second half,
But the Spartans quickly responded with two 3-pointers and a 10-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 20. After Ayala finally broke a four-minute scoring drought for the Terps with a 3-pointer, Michigan State responded with one of its own.
But Ayala continued to fight and attempted to fire up his team. He did not want to end the season with a losing record. He drained two-consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 59-45. Ayala finished the night with 19 points and six rebounds.
“That’s who Eric Ayala is,” Russell said of Ayala’s performance. “He makes tough shots. He takes and makes tough shots. I’m happy that he got in a rhythm a little bit.”
Ayala, Hart and graduate guard Xavier Green all made layups to cut the Terps’ deficit to eight points (59-51), and Scott nailed a 3-pointer to get his team within seven (61-54).
The Terps were not done. Russell capitalized on a Michigan State turnover, sprinted down the court and immediately passed the ball to Hart, who jumped up for the alley-oop. The basket put the Terps within five points of the Spartans (61-56) with less than eight minutes to go, and two Russell free throws got the Terps within three.
However, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 10 points and put the game away.
“We’ve been fighting all year,” Manning said. “That’s one thing that we’re proud of as a staff. These guys have continued to show grit and determination regardless of situations.”
Maryland will have one more opportunity to take down Michigan State. The two teams will face each other again in the Big Ten tournament March 10.
“Michigan State is always a tough team. But we’re confident in our abilities to be confident, that we’re going to go in and we’re going to execute the game plan,” Russell said. “… We have all [the] confidence going into this tournament. We felt like we fought in the second half, but you’ve got to put the whole 40 [minutes] together.”
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