Huskies Men’s Basketball Can’t Close Out Terrapins On the Road
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Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) drives to the basket on Maryland Terrapins forward Solomon Washington (9) during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images [/caption]
The Washington Huskies men’s basketball team missed a trio of opportunities to tie or win the game before Maryland’s Andre Mills threw down an alley-oop dagger in a 64-60 loss on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Xfinity Center.
Even though the Terrapins were without their top offensive weapon most of the game, UW (13-14, 5-11 Big Ten) ended up on the wrong side of a nail-biter as its struggling defense rose to the surface as a critical issue once again. Maryland (11-16, 4-12 Big Ten) continued its recent success, winning three out of its last five games.
The Huskies have now lost four of their last five and 10 of their last 14 games. Any hopes of pursuing a meaningful postseason have already been extinguished, and Saturday was an example of salt being rubbed in the wound.
“At the end of the day, [Maryland] made plays they had to make to win,” Huskies head coach Danny Sprinkle said after the game, per UW Athletics. “Give them credit, because I thought they earned it on the rebounds. I thought they were a lot more physical and to outrebound us by [sixteen], that’s what it comes down to on the road. If you’re not going to rebound, you’re not going to win.”
Here’s what we learned from another disappointing Big Ten loss for UW.
Hanging Around Early
UW began the game with stifling defense, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in just the first five minutes. But that didn’t last long, as Maryland got aggressive and found the holes in the Huskies’ oft-weak resistance.
Maryland took their first lead, 14-13, just before the halfway point of the first half. Wesley Yates III and Zoom Diallo carried the load for the Huskies, but the former also hoisted multiple ill-advised long-range shots that gifted the Terrapins extra possessions.
Freshman superstar Hannes Steinbach was essentially a non-factor early in the first half. He finished the first half with six points, but he was bullied on the boards by Maryland forward Solomon Washington (six points and eight rebounds in the first half).
Steinbach averages 11.3 rebounds per game, but didn’t have any in the first 20 minutes.
Maryland had seven different players score in the opening period, putting forth an incredibly balanced attack. Freshman Guillermo Del Pino, who hadn’t scored any points since Nov. 26, had six points in the first half alone.
The Terrapins took a 34-32 lead into halftime, and it felt like the Huskies were fortunate to be hanging around with how bad they played defensively.
Lack of Ability to Finish
The Huskies were fortunate that their first-half offense was fruitful. The two-point difference allowed them to operate their offense as normal, and they continued to play well on that end of the floor early in the second half.
David Coit, Maryland’s leading scorer, hardly played for the Terrapins. It’s unclear what circumstance was keeping him on the bench, especially since he was in uniform and moving about the sideline during timeouts.
Regardless, the Terrapins’ offense had to find other options, and they continued to do that in the latter period.
UW continued to be dominated on the glass (outrebounded 36-23), but Diallo and Yates remained the aggressors for the Huskies, helping them seize a 54-51 lead with just under eight minutes remaining.
Steinbach continued struggling to outmuscle Washington (11 points, 14 rebounds), who was also impressive on the offensive end. It was an unusual game for the Huskies’ freshman phenom, who totaled a season-low three rebounds. Maryland piled up 14 offensive boards in the game.
The Huskies crumbled at the end after failing to close the door on the Terrapins, missing three different attempts to tie or take the lead in a two-point game. After Mills’ alley-oop slam, the Huskies had just 4.2 seconds to score four points. Understandably, they threw in the towel.
Mills finished with a game-high 21 points, including that exclamation point at the end. Coit ended up playing a total of six minutes, scoring just two points.
Diallo led the Huskies with 19 points (8 of 13 FG), four rebounds and five assists. Steinbach finished with 14 points, while Yates added 12 inefficient points (3 of 13 FG).
What happened on the glass?
The Terrapins were physically more imposing than the Huskies — making Steinbach look pedestrian in that area of the game after he’s been the fourth-leading rebounder in the Big Ten this entire season. Nobody on UW had more than five rebounds, and it was Franck Kepnang who led the team.
“They were athletic, and they were really quick to the ball,” Sprinkle said. “Every time they shot it, everybody was crashing, and we didn’t respond to the physicality and the athleticism.”
UW converted 46% of its shots to Maryland’s 40%. However, with the extra opportunities, that’s what won the game for the Terrapins.
The Huskies came into the game averaging 37.3 rebounds per game, but fell well short of that figure. It’s a snapshot of the defense’s overall struggles, and it’s only continuing to get worse as the season has gone on. After one great game, the Huskies keep reverting to poor performances.
Up Next
UW will travel to face Rutgers (11-16, 4-12 Big Ten) at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
The team has two straight difficult assignments in Wisconsin (18-8) and USC (18-8) after that, threatening the Huskies with a below-.500 finish in consecutive seasons.
