COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland men's basketball team is returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003 and this week's umterps Notebook will delve into the Terps' first and second round performances, as well as look ahead to the game against No. 1-seed Kansas, plus much, much more.
Sweet Return
With its 73-60 win over Hawaii in the NCAA second round the Maryland men's basketball team punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.
It wasn't the prettiest of games, but pretty doesn't mean anything. It's all about winning and the Terps made a run when they needed to and put away a pesky Hawaii team.
Melo Trimble led the way vs. the Rainbow Warriors with 24 points and eight rebounds. Diamond Stone was phenomenal during stretches and finished with 14 points.
The amazing stat in the win over Hawaii was the 3-point shooting. Maryland shot a combined 1-for-18 from behind the arc. That's the fewest number of made 3-pointers for any winning team in any of the 48 games in the first or second rounds of this year's tournament. Virginia made 2-of-10 3-point attempts in its second round win over Butler.
The one 3-pointer is the first time since 1995 that Maryland has had that few made threes in an NCAA tournament game. The Terps went 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts in an 82-68 trouncing of Texas in the second round in 1995.
The Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena rims weren't kind to 3-pointers all weekend. The eight teams combined to make just 65 of 209 3-point attempts in the six games in Spokane this weekend. That's a 3-point FG percentage of just .311, which is below each of the eight team's season averages. If you take out the St. Joes-Cincinnati game where the Hawks and Bearcats combined to shoot 19-of-48 from three, the percentage dips to .286.
The victory ends Maryland's 12-season Sweet 16 drought, which is the longest of any team in this season's Sweet 16. The next longest drought belongs to Texas A&M, which last made the Sweet 16 in 2007.
Making it to the Sweet 16 isn't exactly an easy thing. The longest current streak of making the Sweet 16 is just three years. Kentucky is making it's third-straight trip to the Sweet 16, while Notre Dame, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Duke and Gonzaga are in it for the second year in a row.
The Maryland-Kansas game on Thursday is one of three in the Sweet 16 that pits former NCAA champions against one another. The other late game on Thursday also features two NCAA champions in Duke and Oregon (you probably don't remember that the Ducks won the first-ever NCAA tournament in 1939), while Indiana and North Carolina meet in one of the nightcaps on Friday.
While most of the attention will focus on the Hawaii win, let's not overlook the 79-74 first round victory over South Dakota State. Jake Layman tied his career high with 27 points vs. the Jackrabbits, hitting on 7-of-11 from the field and making all eight free throw attempts.
The 27 points ties Layman for ninth on Maryland's single-game points list in an NCAA tournament game. The last player to score 27 points in an NCAA tournament game was Greivis Vasquez in the Terps' first-round win over California in 2009.
While 3-pointers were a bit of an issue, free throws certainly were not for the Terps. Maryland made 52-of-58 (.897) free throws in its two victories this weekend. The Terrapins held a significant scoring advantage at the charity stripe, out-scoring South Dakota State (24-16) and Hawaii (28-10) by a combined 52-26.
That advantage might not be as significant vs. the Jayhawks, which were also proficient on free throws scoring 38 points combined in its two tournament wins. Overall, Kansas was 38-of-49 (.776) on the weekend from the free throw line.
Maryland and Kansas have appeared in a combined 71 NCAA tournaments, but Thursday's game will be just the second time the two have met. The only other meeting came in 2002 when the Terps topped the Jayhawks, 97-88, in the Final Four. In that game, Juan Dixon set the school record for points in an NCAA tournament game with 33.
The Jayhawks lead the all-time series with the Terrapins, 3-2, but Maryland has won the last two meetings. Prior to the 2002 Final Four game, the Terrapins topped Kansas, 86-83, on Dec. 7, 1997 in the Franklin National Bank Classic at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
Did you know Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon is a Kansas alum and was a member of the 1986 Jawhawk team that advanced to the Final Four? No? By the time the game tips off on Thursday you will. Every newspaper and TV outlet covering the game will be sure to mention it.
Make sure you grab an afternoon cup of coffee on Thursday. The Maryland-Kansas game is scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. tip. This will be the Terrapins' first-ever game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The last time the Terps played in Louisville was 1991 when Maryland lost to Louisville, 96-79, on Dec. 10.
The End Is Just The Start Of A New Beginning
While the men's hoops team's season continues, the Maryland women's basketball team's season came to an abrupt stop on Monday night in a second round loss to Washington.
The loss, while disappointing for sure, should not take away from an amazing season the Terps put together. Consider these two facts:
- Maryland is the first team in Big Ten history to win 30+ games in back-to-back seasons (34-3 in 2014-15 & 31-4 in 2015-16). The only other time it's happened in program history was the 2007-08 (33-4) & 2008-09 (31-5) seasons.
- Maryland won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles in back-to-back seasons, becoming just the second women's basketball team in Big Ten history to do so.
The loss ends the Terrapin careers for four seniors – Malina Howard, Chloe Pavlech, Tierney Pfirman and Brene Moseley – who have helped to lead Maryland to a four-year record of 119-22 (.844). The only other senior class to post more wins during their Terrapin tenure was the 2008-09 class (Kristi Toliver, Marissa Coleman) which was 126-19 (.869).
Head coach Brenda Frese's 2016-17 squad will see the return of its two leading scorers in do-everything guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and post-presence Brionna Jones for their senior seasons. SWK averaged 19.5 points per game and was the only Terp to start all 35 games this season. Jones started 34 of the 35 games and nearly averaged a double-double with 15.2 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game.
Add into the mix a talented group of underclassmen that gained valuable playing time and experience this season and the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation (highlighted by two state Gatorade Players of the Year, three McDonald's All-Americans and four WBCA All-Americans).
Leaving No Doubt
In the 2000 movie Remember the Titans there's a scene where assistant coach Bill Yost emphatically tells head coach Herman Boone to “Leave No Doubt” who is the better team in a regional championship game in 1971.
That seems to have been the same rallying cry the No. 1 Maryland women's lacrosse team used when it ventured to Gainesville, Fla., this past weekend for a showdown with No. 2 Florida.
The Terrapins left no doubt as to which is the best team in the nation after dominating the Gators, 14-4.
The game was tied 2-2 midway through the first half, but Maryland went on a 10-1 run over the span of 26:41 to blow the game wide open.
Maryland's line-up is littered with high-profile stars, but it was junior attacker Caroline Wannen that led the way vs. the Gators with four goals and three assists. Prior to the Florida game, Wannen had scored a total of four goals in her entire collegiate career.
The win over the Gators gives Maryland road victories over No. 3 North Carolina, No. 6 Syracuse and No. 2 Florida.
The Terps have the opportunity to earn another road win over a ranked opponent tonight when they play at No. 14 Penn at 7 p.m. That game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (subscription required). Game updates will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed @MarylandWLax.
Quick Hitters
• The Maryland men's lacrosse team had a much-needed weekend off this past weekend after putting up a 10-7 win over No. 10 Albany last Wednesday at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
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The 6th-ranked Terrapins will welcome a familiar foe to College Park this Saturday when No. 12 North Carolina comes in for a 2 p.m. game that will be broadcast live on ESPNU (also streamed live on WatchESPN & the ESPN app).
This will be the 66th all-time meeting between the Terps and Tar Heels and the first in College Park since 2013.
The key match-up to watch in this one will be at the face-off X. Maryland freshman Austin Henningsen is ninth in the nation in face-off win percentage at .647 (5.33 groundballs per game/17th), while UNC junior Stephen Kelly is 12th in the country at .641 (6.38 groundballs per game/14th).
• It was a good Spring Break for the Maryland baseball team, which went out to California and won the series at No. 23 Cal State Fullerton two games to one.
Despite a strong performance from All-American Mike Shawaryn, the Terps dropped the series opener, 3-2 in 10 innings.
Maryland's bats came alive in the second game. Kevin Smith, Marty Costes and Kevin Biondic combined to go 8-for-14 from the dish with four RBIs in the 8-4 win.
Brian Shaffer tossed a gem in the rubber game, scattering seven hits in a 1-0 shutout. The lone run came in the sixth inning when Justin Morris reached on a walk and then scored two batters later on a double by Madison Nickens.
The Terrapins open up their Big Ten slate this weekend with a three-game series at Iowa beginning on Friday. Fans can watch all three games with a BTN Plus subscription on the BTN2Go platform.
• The Terps' women's tennis team improved to 2-1 in Big Ten play with a 4-3 victory at Iowa this past weekend. Maryland started strong sweeping doubles play to earn a point, but Iowa took three of the first five singles matches to tie the match at 3-3.
The deciding point came down to the third set of the No. 5 match between Maryland's Cassandre Thebault and Iowa's Adorabol Huckleby. Thebault dominated the third set 6-0 to give Maryland the point and the victory.
• The Maryland track and field teams host the first of two meets at the Kehoe Track & Field Complex this Saturday. Admission to the Maryland Invitational is free and events are set to begin at 10 a.m.
• Congratulations to senior gymnast Kathy Tang, who finished up a stellar career this past weekend at the Big Ten Championships, on being named to the All-Championship Team. Tang tied for first on the floor exercise in the afternoon session with a 9.875.
• After taking off a week for Spring Break, the Maryland football team resumes spring practice this week. Catch up with what the Terps are up to this spring with new head coach DJ Durkin in this exclusive behind-the-scenes video:
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Tweet of the Week
Wrapping Up
That's it for this edition of the umterps Notebook. Don't forget to follow Maryland athletics on all of the social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Patrick Fischer is the Director of Digital Media and Website Management for the University of Maryland Department of Intercollegiate AthleticsThe views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Maryland athletics department or its athletics programs.
