Maryland Basketball: Not So Fast My Friends

Winthrop Eagles (3-1) at
#25/24 Maryland Terrapins (5-0)
Comcast Center - College Park, MD

Maryland makes their debut in the polls and makes their third early season preview on my page.

Wait a sec...Mark, you said you'd only do game previews for Maryland when they were in conference or playing a big out of conference opponent. They're playing Winthrop tonight, you moron. You call this a big game?

Not so fast. I realize that most of you couldn't find Winthop on a map if I told you that they were located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. I know most of you couldn't guess what conference they play in if I told you they were in the Big South. But, this will not be an easy game. Anything but. This is a trap game.

Maryland just came off their tournament win in NYC and are due for a letdown. In eight days, they have to travel to Urbana-Champaign to play Illinois in a true road game in the ACC's Annual Beatdown of the Big 10 Challenge. Plus they have the holiday coming up as well. So the Terps are looking ahead.

Nuzzled in between all this is Winthrop. Innocent enough at first glance. The Terps should get an easy win, take off for Thanksgiving, come back Friday and drub High Point even with with half the team in a tryptophan induced coma, then get ready for Illinois. But then you look at the facts.

Winthrop is 3-1 this year. Last week they went to Starksville and beat Mississippi State. A MSU team that many, including myself, think is good enough to be a tournament team this season. They also drubbed a pretty good MAAC team in Iona.

Let's flash back for a second to mid-March. Winthrop was a #15 seed after winning the Big South. They drew #2 seed Tennessee in the first round. The Eagles controlled the majority of the game until a couple of stupid fouls in the final minute. The Vols still needed a 15-foot off balance jump shot from Chris Lofton to win 63-61.

Now let's flash back to early last week. The Eagles have lost a game this season. It was to #2 North Carolina. That performance was more impressive than anything Winthrop has done the past year. They led at halftime. Like the game against Tennessee, the Eagles controlled the game for most of the way. UNC pulled away in the last five minutes to win 73-66. UNC was able to win because Winthrop had exactly one free throw the entire game. It was the front end of a one-and-one, which they missed. Winthrop lost a game to the second-ranked team in the country, on the road, by only seven, in a game that they had one free throw and were awarded ZERO shooting fouls. With unbiased refereeing, the Eagles probably would have won.

Winthrop, like most of these small schools that occasionally rise up and cause trouble, is a veteran team. Their top six scorers consist of three seniors and three juniors. Only two underclassman see more than 10 minutes of playing time.

The Eagles are incredibly balanced. Their three top players are two guards and a senior power forward. Michael Jenkins and Torrell Martin. Jenkins has averaged 19 points a game and Martin has 15.5. They both jack up at least 7-8 three's a game. Jenkins is shooting 55% from beyond the arc. Winthrop as a team averages 30 three-point attempts a game. Their team average is 37%. So the perimeter defense will have to be ready.

Winthrop is not a one-trick pony. Phillip Williams, the 6-8 forward, averages 10 points a game inside. When the threes weren't falling against MSU, Williams scored 22 points against a pretty good frontcourt. Winthrop also has depth, they'll play at least eight to nine guys a game. Craig Bradshaw, Chris Gaynor and Taj McCullough all get serious minutes and get their points.

Maryland's weakness on defense, even over the course of the first five wins, has been playing the perimeter. So far their opponents haven't been able to knock down open shots. St. John's is awful from three land. Michigan State is better, but had an off night. If Maryland continues to give open looks, they will lose one of these non-conference games eventually. Old Dominion knocked off Georgetown because they got hot from downtown. Same for Oral Roberts against Kansas. Maryland has to be very careful. The Terps will win, but much closer than most think.

Maryland 80
Winthrop 71