Maryland begins its Big Ten Tournament run on Thursday evening when they face the Michigan State Spartans for the third time this season.
The conference tournament matchup comes just four days after Maryland and Michigan State met on the Spartans’ senior day. Michigan State opened the game on an 18-1 run and led by as much as 20 last weekend, but Maryland opened the second half on a 10-0 before a 19-2 run brought them within three. Despite the Terps failing to reclaim the lead in the regular-season finale, head coach Danny Manning knows there’s a benefit to having your next opponent still fresh in their minds.
“We watched we were off [Monday], came back [Tuesday], we watched film of the last game we played,” Manning said Tuesday. “Works well for us in that regard of preparation and then it's just a matter of understanding what hurt us whether it was self-inflicted or whether Michigan State brought that type of pain to us and make adjustments from there. Understand that you can't let them get comfortable behind the three-point line and part of it is part of the game plan. You know, Bingham is a very talented basketball player, their center. I rather him shoot threes than Gabe Brown.”
For Eric Ayala, his days in College Park are numbered as each game could be his last given the Terps are well outside the projections of postseason play. Knowing Maryland will need to win the Big Ten Tournament in order to advance, he’s staying even keel heading into the matchup with the Spartans.
“It’s definitely 0-0,” Ayala added on Tuesday. “Everybody starting out fresh and it’s a great opportunity for us to cement ourselves in a tournament like this that can help us with our end-of-season goals.” Manning, still looking to keep team spirits high with an opportunity to advance the season, echoed his leader’s remark.
“You work all year long to prepare for this month and it's here, it's upon us. We know we have to go out and do whatever it takes to extend our season. That's one game at a time and that's the beauty of March.