If you were concerned about the well being of the Michigan Wolverines following their loss to Michigan State over the weekend, don’t be. UM took out its frustration against hapless Nebraska on Thursday, pounding the Huskers 82-53. UM is a game back of Purdue and MSU in the loss column for first place in the Big Ten and a rematch with Sparty closes out the regular season. The Wolverines have to get past the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday, or get some help along the way to make that game more meaningful.
Michigan Wolverines at Maryland Terrapins
Date and Time: Sunday, March 3, 2019, 3:45 p.m. ET
Location: XFinity Center, College Park, MD
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Michigan at Maryland TV Coverage: CBS
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Take a team lightly in the Big Ten and you’ll end up paying for it. The Wolverines probably felt good about their chances of beating the shorthanded Spartans last Sunday. Boy, were they wrong. Without two of their top players, MSU walked out of Crisler Center with a 77-70 win, pushing Michigan out of a tie for first in the conference.
Maryland was given the same treatment by Penn State on Wednesday, falling to the Nittany Lions 78-61. The Terps are fourth in the Big Ten standings, which would give them a bye into the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament. However, their spot is more precarious following the upset loss. The good news for the Terps is that they’ll finish the regular season at home where they are 14-2 overall. They went just 5-5 on the road during league play and were outscored by double digits three times.
Last Meeting
One of those road losses was in Ann Arbor two weeks ago when the Terps fell 65-52. After a sluggish opening half when the Terps turned the ball over 13 times and trailed by nine points, they outplayed Michigan for long stretches of the second half, but the damage had already been done. “They got up to play and we didn’t. You can’t have those types of starts against teams like that,” Maryland’s Anthony Cowan Jr. said.
Michigan got 14 points from Charles Matthews and 13 from Iggy Brazdeikis, but the Wolverines couldn’t put the game away until late when the Terps failed on a number of comeback three-point attempts. They shot just 27.3 percent from deep and 36.4 percent overall with reserve Aaron Wiggins netting a team-high 15 points. Cowan, the Terps leading scorer, was held to 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting by the pesky Wolverines defense.
Injury Report
Against Nebraska, the Wolverines used a different starting five for the first time all season. With Charles Matthews sidelined with an ankle injury, Isaiah Livers slipped into the rotation and contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds. Matthews sustained his injury in the first half of Sunday’s game with MSU. He returned later but was ineffective scoring only four points on 1 of 8 shooting. The injury wasn’t considered serious at the time, but Matthews was wearing a walking boot during Thursday’s matchup with the Huskers.
Livers started 22 games last season so the switch isn’t going to affect UM too much on the front end. However, the Wolverines’ short bench will be affected if Matthews is to miss additional time. Livers is the top reserve playing 21 minutes per game while scoring 7.3 points. Eli Brooks is the only other reserve to play more than 10 minutes per contest.
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There weren’t a lot of points scored in the first meeting with the teams cashing the under in UM’s 65-52 win. And there’s a good chance we see something similar on Sunday. It isn’t exciting, but it has led to plenty of wins for both clubs. The key for Michigan – other than the health of Matthews – is how well John Teske plays. The Wolverines don’t score a lot of points, but when Teske contributes, they’re tough to beat. At 7-1, Teske can hit from distance and play a post game. The Terps lack the size to body him up and he will be the difference in UM’s road victory.
College Basketball Score Prediction: Michigan 64, Maryland 58
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