With 5:30 left and the state of Michigan still within reach of a return, Maryland slowed the ball and launched its semi-offensive set, with guard Hakim Hart delivering the ball to Donta Scott’s forward at the top of the key throw.
Scott finished his man down to the left post, just as he had been in previous possession, but this time he kicked the ball out again to Hart, who sank an important three-point bucket to regain momentum.
Hart’s bucket was in the middle of a 14-4 Terrapin run that pushed Maryland’s lead to a game-level 15 points en route to a 73-55 victory Sunday afternoon.
Maryland’s men’s basketball took a quick lead and then used strong defense and consistent offense to repeatedly respond to any outbursts from the state of Michigan and never disappoint during the game.
“We made shots early,” head coach Mark Turgeon said. “But our defense was shot out of a cannon at the start of the game and we were defensively probably 36 minutes good today.”
With the win, the Terps defeat the Spartans at Xfinity Center for the first time since March 4, 2017. They also extend their current winning streak to five games, with an NCAA tournament spot now almost locked up.
After a long first possession that resulted in no basket, Maryland returned to basics and forced a turnover that caused Terrapin points of 11 consecutive points to start the game.
The stifling Terrapin defense did not allow a single Spartan point to the 13:51 mark of the first half, the first time Maryland kept an opponent without points for five minutes.
“I think it set the tone for the game,” Morsell said of the strong start. ‘That’s why I play. I know what Michigan State [is] about, and I knew we had to get out here with energy today and we had to hit them first. ‘
The state of Michigan managed to break the ice with a set-up and quick try in the next possession, bringing the score to 11-5 with 13:21 in the half. But a three-pointer from Jairus Hamilton and Eric Ayala who converted three free-kicks helped fuel the Terrapin attack and keep the Spartans from getting any closer.
With 9:02 left in the half, the state of Michigan rushed into a transition and wanted to gain momentum, when Gabe Brown broke to the basket and climbed up, but then Reese Mona knelt in the chest and plowed through him for an offensive offense. .
Only a few possessions later, Eric Ayala converted his first try of the afternoon with 7:16 left in the half and became the fifth Terp to do so through just six team attempts. The state of Michigan opened the afternoon shooting just 2-for-11 from long range in the same stretch.
Defending still paved the way for Maryland when the half started to spin, while Morsell stabbed a ball free during a quick breakaway from Spartane, immediately overturned the pitch and dropped a pass to Ayala on the other side around the Terps to give a 33-21 lead with four minutes left.
Maryland had a 35-25 lead in the locker room on the back of an 11-of-25 shooting attempt from the floor, including a 6-out-10 out of three, and seven points from six Michigan State turnovers.
Ayala led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, while Morsell followed with nine of his own. The Spartans had just five different scorers in 20 minutes, with Aaron Henry (9) and Joshua Langford (8) offending most of the work.
The Spartans opened the second half with the ball, but a long possession ended with another missed three-point shot, which turned the Terps on the other side into points thanks to a Morsell cut in the basket.
“It’s something we’re talking about, but we’ve made changes,” Turgeon said of the aggression in the offense. “It’s a little harder to explore and it really opened the floor … We’ve always talked about it, we just got better at it.”
Maryland only allowed the state of Michigan to nine points in the early half and did its job at the charity line. The Spartans played six offenses in just 4:52 of the second half, which put the Terps in the bonus after a 6-out-6 half from the line and a 13-to-13 effort through that point .
Brown left his second three-point bucket of the game with 13:04 left, but a Morsell block from Henry in the next defensive possession led to a transitional dunk for Hakim Hart as an immediate answer. Galin Smith also degenerated on the next Maryland possession and increased the lead to 11 points.
The state of Michigan put strong pressure on the second half, with a 6-0 run on three consecutive possessions to drop Maryland’s lead to five points.
However, a consecutive 14-4 Maryland run over nearly 6:06 not only works to answer the Spartans’ effort, but also three points from Hart and Donta Scott work as daggers, giving the Terps a 15-point lead. in the final minutes.
Spartan Rocket Watts missed a bucket in the paint with just over a minute to go, which led to Hart sending the ball forward to Wiggins for a 360-degree shot to an exclamation point on the win farm.
Ayala walked the mark for the Terps with 22 points as one of four players in double figures, followed by 13 points from Wiggins, 11 from Morsell and 10 from Hart. Scott scored eight rebounds along with seven points and five assists.
“I feel like our confidence is currently peaking,” Hart said. “We just have to keep it that way.”
Three things to know
1. The finish line continues. Maryland has now won five consecutive games and still has a tough start to playing Big Ten. The state of Michigan won three consecutive games on Sunday’s game, including against No. 5 Illinois and Ohio State, but the Terps stopped the run in its tracks.
2. Maryland impressed above the arch. The Terps made their first three-point attempts to start the game, and they continued to shoot daggers from there and finish the first half 6-out-10 from outside the arc. On the other hand, the state of Michigan shot just 4-of-15 from deep into the opening period.
The Terps still shot lightly the rest of the way and went 8-out-16 (50%) from deep, compared to just 8-out-28 (28.6%) for the Spartans. This is the third time this season that Maryland has shot above three points above 0.500.
3. The Terps took advantage of his chances on the charity line. The Spartans committed 19 personal offenses on Sunday afternoon, leading to many opportunities for Maryland. The Terps came to the free-throw line, making 23-of-24 chances. This team has had an up-and-coming performance of the charity streak this season, including a 26-of-40 (65%) point in its last two games. But the Terps did not waste any points against Michigan State.
“It was great, especially in games like this, where a talented team like Michigan State could take advantage of our missed free throw,” Ayala said. “And we didn’t turn the ball around much … I think it’s the winning recipe, to throw for free and not to turn around.”