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MI to Entertain No. 8 Maryland on Thursday
Posted On Jan 12 2016
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Maryland basketball’s nine-game winning streak is finally over, as the Terps registered their second loss of the season Tuesday against MI.
The Wolverines are hoping to rebound after their 87-70 loss to Purdue in their last matchup.
LeVert, the Wolverines’ leading scorer (17.6 points per game), rebounder (5.4) and assist leader (5.2), has missed two games after suffering a lower leg injury against IL on December 30. He had blocks with 43 and 31 seconds left, and he had the final tip in to end the half. It seemed like Maryland was poised to make another comeback, but MI didn’t wilt. The Boilermakers handed the Wolverines (12-4, 2-1) their first conference loss of the season last Thursday, and now the Wolverines return home to the Crisler Center for an important game against the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins. But the Terps were up 8 late in the game and the Badgers needed two late three’s to tie the game. It took a while befor Diamond Stone (22 points, 11 rebounds) really got rolling inside; same for Rasheed Sulaimon, who did not score a point in the first half. Zak Irvin led MI with 22 points, Duncan Robinson had 17 and Derrick Walton Jr. added 12. Layman made all four of his shots in the frame, keeping the Terps in the game with 11 first-half points.
MI led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but the Terrapins came all the way back behind Stone, who scored 19 points after halftime. The Terps didn’t look great tonight, but they weren’t going undefeated in conference play. Maryland paces the conference in scoring offense (86.5), with MI coming in third (81.1). The Terps had seven giveaways early, before locking the ball up in the second half.
On average, MI attempts 25.0 three pointers and Maryland attempts 20.0. Michigan’s D-III transfer doesn’t need much space to launch a three, and he hit five of nine bombs against the Terrapins. It’ll be tough sledding without him, but they proved against Purdue last week that this is at least a capable team without its statistical leader.
