Michigan Men’s Basketball team did find the best therapy from a defeat is to go play another game quickly and why not do it at Home. The Wolverines used a solid defensive performance in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins to defeat the Terps 65-52 before a sellout crowd at the Crisler Center. Coming off the loss to Penn State Tuesday the Wolverines scored early on Maryland with a 14-2 run and held Maryland to 18 Points in the first Half.
Maryland did not help themselves in the game with 13 turnovers in the first half and at one time had more turnovers than points. Also, the Terrapins did not shoot well as Burno Fernando, Anthony Cowan two leading scorers for Maryland were 1-of 7 shooting. Michigan’s defense was also causing the Terps an issue with the turnovers and cutting off shooting lanes against Maryland.
Senior forward Charles Matthews, Zavier Simpson, and Ignas Brazedekis led the Wolverines in the game with Matthews 14 points and 6 rebounds, Simpson 12 points eight assists, and Brazdekis 13 points and five rebounds. Junior Jon Teske will not be getting fan mail from Burno Fernando either as Teske held the Maryland center to 0 points in the first half and Fernando’s second-half effort better was not what the Terrapins needed.
In the second half, Maryland came to life with better shooting, fewer turnovers and scoring off the bench from freshman forward Anthony Cowan who led Maryland with 15 points for the game. The Terrapins were able to get the game close with the better shooting and Michigan’s shooting cooled off in the second half however when pressed the Wolverines were able to get key buckets and stops and increase the 3 points lead back to the 8 or 9 point lead they held in the game as the Wolverines never trailed in the game.
Michigan did not have a turnover in the second half either and was able to stay out of foul trouble in the game. The game continued a couple of streaks for each team one streak good with another one not so good. For Maryland, they are 0-19 over the past 8 years playing ranked teams on the road and for the Wolverines, they are 16-0 for the year at the Crisler Center. Maryland is now 10-5 in the conference 19-7 overall in 4th place while the Wolverines sit at 12-3 in conference 23-3 for the season and 1st in the Big Ten. Michigan is off till Thursday when they visit Minnesota to play the Gophers in a rematch of the teams.