Entering Thursday night’s game against Ohio State, Maryland men’s basketball had lost its previous two games by 43 and 30 points, respectively.
Against the Buckeyes, the Terps only lost by 20 points — in theory, a slight improvement. But by and large, this was one of Maryland’s more frustrating games of the season. It had several opportunities to leverage momentum.
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Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game.
The pieces are there…
Through the first media timeout, Maryland’s offense had some of the best offensive creativity of its season.
The starting lineup of Darius Adams, Andre Mills, Solomon Washington, Elijah Saunders and Collin Metcalf worked fairly well. Despite lacking a true second offensive alpha outside of Adams, the Terps were able to work the ball through the post and inside effectively. Metcalf — who entered the game with 132 minutes on the season — played 15 reasonably effective minutes, giving Maryland the spacing it needed for others to operate in their best roles.
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Saunders in particular looked like a new player. Getting to play as a shooting forward is a rare occurrence for him, but when Saunders gets in his natural position, the ability Buzz Williams saw when recruiting him becomes clear.
Being matched up against a smaller player instead of a big — with two others typically occupying Ohio State’s frontcourt — gave the space to pick his spots from the corner and behind the arc.
Skillful rim-crashes were possible in this position, where he could use his sense of timing instead of being already stuck under the rim in the power forward or center position. Those spots have had to be his due to Maryland’s sheer lack of viable options far too often for the good of the team.
In the backcourt, Andre Mills continues to demonstrate improvement. The jaw-dropping dunk was a fair reward for a player who has been one of the Terps’ bright spots over the last month.
He has 50 points over the last four games and seems to relish throwing himself into contact on both ends of the court. His energy is exactly what Maryland needs from its team. And the Terps have at times displayed an energy and passion that is at least somewhat heartening to see. But it’s far too little, far too late to have any meaningful impact on this season.
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…and they’re getting thrown at the wall.
Watching Collin Metcalf and Aleks Alston check in at the same time is not anything particularly notable in itself. George Turkson and Andre Mills checking out is not anything crazy either. But then, the eyes pan over to the other players on the court.
Metcalf. Alston. Washington. Saunders. Diggy Coit.
Not in a Terps fan’s wildest dreams would that lineup be assembled. Tactically, it’s a mystery — Maryland didn’t even attempt to use its size advantage. The two shots that lineup took offensively were iso 3-pointers.
The rare lineup is a reflection of Williams’ long-standing attitude of using the depth to keep players rotating combined with a hint of necessity. But the degree to which the Terps have rotated is impressive, even for this coach.
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Williams has rolled out 11 different starting lineups through 22 games, including this game’s five of Adams, Mills, Washington, Saunders and Metcalf.
The Terps had 145 different lineup combinations appear in a game entering Thursday night, per EvanMiya. At least two more unique ones were added against the Buckeyes.
If that feels like a lot, it is — only three Big Ten teams have more. And if that feels like a good thing, it isn’t — two of the three teams ahead of Maryland in that regard are Oregon and Rutgers.
At times, the Terps cannot find any invention on offense. The strategy looks as though they have taken a page out of Cathy Reese and Maryland women’s lacrosse’s recent playbook — toss the ball around the restraining line until the clock runs low, and then someone makes a cut or takes a long shot.
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It is almost impossible to pinpoint what plagues the team. The inconsistency — obviously — cannot be placed on one player or one set. It’s rampant.
Coit cannot be trusted
Maryland’s inconsistency is perhaps nowhere more evident than Diggy Coit. National media has put all the attention on Coit for the eye-popping statistics. And while he is a justified fan favorite for the highs he can reach, Coit reached an ignominious low in the first half.
The stats were not great — nine minutes, four points, three turnovers. But they did not tell the story of the eye test.
The catch-and-shoot guard suddenly was unable to catch. Multiple times, under no pressure, Coit bobbled a relatively simple pass, leading to a transition that got the Buckeyes easy points.
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His three 3-point attempts in the first half were closer to missing the rim than going in. And that’s to say nothing of the defensive end, where he really struggles.
Unfortunately for Maryland, Coit has now demonstrated on several occasions just how much of a “microwave scorer,” per Williams, he is. If he could develop a modicum of consistency, he would be one of college basketball’s premier players.
