Game breakdown: Maryland men's basketball thumped vs. 12th-ranked Purdue

jmcconn3
3 hours ago
3 min read

Updated: 12 minutes ago

In a game that wasn't close from the tipoff, Maryland dropped their third straight game and their seventh straight loss against a ranked opponent, 93-63 to #12 Purdue, still waiting for their first ranked win of the season.

The Terps never had a lead in the game, started the game down 10-2 before the first timeout, shooting 4/5 from the field, a hot start. From that point on, it was always an uphill trek for the Terps. Purdue took full advantage off of Marylands mishaps, with sixteen second chance points, eleven points off of the Terps seven turnovers, and twelve points in the paint.

"You don't want to start a game, and the avalanche has already started," Head Coach Buzz Williams said. "Then you're playing from behind, from that point forward. So I'm trying to do better with that."

Maryland looked to be a step slow on their man to man defense in the first half, playing against the constant pick and roll to kick out to either Braden Smith or Fletcher Loyer on the outside to deal damage, Loyer contributing 21 points in the first half alone. There was a lot of flex action sets from Purdue to get Floyer and Smith open, with subtle rip screens on the back side to find them for an open three. Terps never seemed to make an adjustment in the first 20 minutes switching to any other sort of zone defense to try and slow down the outside shooting as Purdue shot 9-17 from the three.

The Terps on offense had their three point game as a glimmer of a bright spot, shooting 50% on 4/8 shooting outside the arc, when they couldn't get anything truly working in the paint. Andre Mills wound up going perfect on his shot in the first half, contributing 10 points on 3/3 from the field and 2/2 from the three ball.

It wouldn't be enough to make it a close game, as the Terps trailed 49-28 at the end of the first half.

"What hurt us the most in the first half - the turnovers, as we mentioned, but we had zero offensive rebound, and they had eight," Williams said. "So we shot more balls than them in the second half. I understand their roster was a little different in the second half than the first half, so I don't want to discount that, but their volume of shots in the first half and our lack of volume of shots, partly from turnovers, partly from not accruing any offensive rebounds, that's where we have to improve.”

The second half would end up being about the same damage for the Terps, if not worse.

About halfway through the second half, Maryland got a bit more aggressive of defense with a full court press, which resulted in a Purdue miss and quick transition offense for the Terps, getting themselves to the line.

Maryland would end up switching to zone defense in the second half a few times, trying to slow the pace down on Purdue, and at times, it worked. They slowed down the three ball, holding them to three less makes compared to the first half. Although with the deficit that they were in after the first half, it wasn't enough to warrant a special comeback, especially when the Terps slowed down themselves with shooting.

"The weak side coverage was what was not good enough from an execution standpoint, I think they had they had nine in the first half. They had six in the second half. And of the nine, I'm not sure we count one pass threes," Williams said."

The Terps benefited getting themselves to the line more often in the second half as well, something they've seemed to do well the majority of the season. But there is a difference getting to the line and making free throws when you get there. Maryland got more aggressive attacking the paint in the second half as well, lots of downhill easy contact sets relying on those free throws to get them life.

Maryland will look to regroup prior to their next game against Ohio State on February 5.

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