In a game of great weight in the Big Ten, Conference, the Crab Five and Maryland basketball took care of business in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines, 71-65, in arguably their most impressive road win of the season. It also Maryland's first win in Ann Arbor since Jan. 1, 2017.
Both teams started cold from the floor shooting a combined 3 of 13 through the first media timeout. Queen cracked the lid on the rim with a spin move on Danny Wolf on the low block. Wolf was the lone source of offense early for the Wolverines however with seven of their first nine points. Nimari Burnett then hit a three from the corner to make it a 12-7 early lead for Michigan. Kevin Willard immediately called his first timeout of the game to talk things over with his squad. At this point, Michigan was riding an 8-0 run.
Maryland continued to struggle from the field early until Rodney Rice nailed a top of the key three to cut into the Wolverine lead. The three was Maryland’s second shot made their last 13 attempts. A few possessions later, Wolf was called for a hook foul on the offensive end for his second of the game. Early foul trouble for Wolf gave Maryland a huge size advantage while he took a seat on the bench. The Terps took advantage, and went on a quick 9-0 run to take a 16-14 lead.
The start of this game was eerily similar to Maryland’s brutal loss to Michigan State last week. Both teams, even with their big runs, shot under 32% from the field through the first 13 minutes and change. Similar to Wolf, Juju picked up two first half fouls resulting in Willard subbing him out. As soon as Reese checked out, Wolf checked in. As soon as Wolf checked in though, Miguel hit his second three, and Queen had a tap-in finish on the following possession adding to Terps 17-4 run, and 24-18 lead.
A few moments later, Jordan Geronimo had a SCTop10 moment, throwing down a ferocious dunk on Vladislav Goldin. The run now was 19-4 in just over seven minutes, and Dusty May had no choice but to call a timeout. Maryland was cooking and building a sizable lead, 26-18. Geronimo’s first half was special off the bench, bringing a spark to the floor that Maryland desperately needed. He stuffed that statsheet with four points, two rebounds, a block, and a steal. His presence was overwhelming for Michigan, and perhaps the largest factor in the first half. Willard gave high praise to the senior role player following the victory.
“Jordan's energy - I think Jordan’s energy over the last three games have been great. He's a senior. He's taken advantage of the opportunity. And it was, you know, it's funny because Jordan got hurt and Tafara [Gapare] took over and was really playing well. Then Tafara get sick and misses 12 days and Jordan has stepped up. Jordan's energy was terrific. Defensively, he was all over the place. Again, there's just not a lot of shots for the bench guys because we have five starters that need shots. So for them to come in and play with that energy was great.”
Closing out the first half strong was also something that the Terps really struggled with early this season, but closed the first half tonight phenomenally, holding Michigan scoreless through the final two and a half minutes. A 26-8 run, Miguel’s 13 first half points, Geronimo’s incredible half of play propelled Willard’s squad to a 33-22 halftime lead. The 11 point halftime lead was Maryland’s largest against Michigan since 2020, and Michigan’s 22 points was their fewest halftime total this season.
Out of the locker room to start the second half, Maryland forced three quick turnovers over a two-minute span and four over the first three and half minutes of play. Michigan combatted their loose play on offense by starting 3 for 4 from the field. Going into the first media timeout, Maryland led by nine but the energy and intensity was great. Michigan at this point should’ve considered themselves lucky that the lead wasn’t larger.
Reese picked up his third foul with 14:41 remaining, Willard quickly took Reese out which wasn’t the worst case scenario up to this point in the game because of Geronimo’s tremendous play.
The problem for the Terps though was Michigan wouldn’t go away on the other end. They made six of seven over the course of four minutes to bring the deficit down to five. In a game where momentum was everything, Willard’s hand was forced and had to call timeout to hold off the Wolverines while they were hot, now trailing 44-39.
Out of the timeout, Gillespie hit a massive three to silence the crowd. There was greater significance on a personal note for Gillespie, who missed his first six shots from the floor until that trey ball. Rice followed with a three of his own and Maryland was back out to a double-digit lead, 50-39. The quick 6-0 run was an incredible response out of Willard’s time out call, and showed the growth and maturation of this team.
But just as the Terps had separated, Michigan immediately responded with a 7-0 run in 68 seconds and brought the Wolverines right back into the game, trailing 50-46. For all the great responses Maryland had, Michigan countered every step of the way. After going down 11 earlier in the half, Michigan went on an emphatic 15-4 run. We had ourselves a one possession game with just over nine minutes left in the game from Ann Arbor, at 54-52.
Similar to the Gillespie three out of Willard’s timeout, Rice hit a massive three to gain a little separation. It was Rice’s second three of the half, and fourth in the second half for the Terps. Yet Michigan hit another huge three courtesy of Wolf. He had 18 to this point, and the Wolverines made 14 of their first 19 shots in the second half, shooting over 73% from the field up to that point in the second half.
A Reese layup with a little over six minutes left made it a four point lead for Maryland. As a team though, the Terps went into a scoring drought. Simultaneously, Michigan turned the ball over three times in a three minute span. Queen then 2 of 2 from the stripe extending the lead to six. Reece then followed suit at the stripe making two of his own, and extending the lead to eight at 65-57.
Reese then blew a dunk on Maryland’s next possession which led to another clutch Burnett three pointer and cut the lead back down to five. The final 90 seconds had arrived, and Maryland had a 65-60 lead.
What came next was the most questionable decision of the game, with Goldin intentionally fouling Rice to put the Maryland guard at the line as the Terps were already in the bonus and the Goldin foul put them in the double-bonus. Rice nailed both, and Wolf followed on the other with a putback finish. Michigan then called a timeout to issue a full-court press.
The press sent Rice back to the line after he was fouled, but Rice only made one of two to extend the narrow lead to six. At 68-62, Michigan needed a shot desperately to fall, but couldn’t get one. Wolf missed a contested three, Queen rebounded the miss and was immediately fouled making one of two and making their lead seven.
Michigan though, once again, responded with a big three on the other end on a Tre Donaldson wing three. May called Michigan’s final timeout to address how they’d attack the final 17.8 seconds chasing four points, trailing 69-65.
Michigan fouled Gillespie, and Gillespie did was Gillespie does, making both from the stripe, and the lead now 71-65. Wolf missed a 1-and-1 opportunity at the free throw line a few moments later, and Michigan’s fate was decided as a result. The Terps got it done on the road against a ranked opponent for win number 23 on the season.
Maryland got it done even without making a field goal in the final six minutes. Three out of the five “Crab Five” finished in double-figures behind Rice’s team-leading 19 points and Queen and Miguel both finishing with 17 each. As a team, Maryland’s 12 steals and 16 forced turnovers were the biggest bright spots for Willard and his players. The defensive presence was able to combat their below-average offensive efficiency shooting 38% from the floor.
For Michigan, their big man duo of Wolf and Goldin both dropped 20 points each, but didn’t have a great supporting cast offensively on Wednesday night. What impresses Willard the most with this season, and throughout the whole season, is the ability to silence all the noise and negativity, overcome adversity, and battle in tough road environments just like Ann Arbor.
“I think, you know, there was so much talk earlier in the year. We lost a close one to Purdue, lost two tough ones out west, lost a buzzer beater, and then, you know, the negativity. I'm really proud of these guys because they blocked out all that negativity. So to start 0-4 on the road, to stay positive, to stay with everything, and now end up 5-5 in this conference. More than anything, I'm just so proud of that group of guys because it could have been easy to let all that negativity, let all that talk deter them. And I think they showed the grit from the Michigan State halfcourt shot to go on the road at Penn State and win a tough game, and then come here and win a tough game. These kids deserve a lot of credit.”
The loss for Michigan, who’s now 14-5 in conference play, guarantees at bare minimum a share of the Big Ten Regular Season Championship to their in-state rival, Michigan State, who sit at the top of the conference with a 15-3 conference record. The Spartans can clinch the regular season title if they win one of their final two games of the regular season this week, the latter of which is a home game against Michigan, potentially for all the regular season marbles.
Meanwhile, Maryland gains slightly more separation in the chase for a double-bye. If they win on Saturday afternoon against Northwestern in College Park, they clinch a top-four seed and a double-bye. How Purdue and Northwestern fare to close the regular season could determine the final order with a chance for Maryland to climb to the two-seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Maryland’s final regular season will be this Saturday against Northwestern on Senior Day. Willard and company will look to finish out the season strong while recognizing all of his seniors in the process, who he has nothing but high praise for.
“For all these seniors. I look at Jordan's, been with me two years. You look at a guy like Selton and Jayhlon who've given up their last year to come play for you, it's very special. And obviously, for Julian, I think our fans need to get to the arena early. It's a three o'clock Saturday game. There's no reason why everybody can't be in there early. Julian, he went through a coaching change. He goes through a really tough year last year. Most people bail. He stayed true to the University of Maryland. He stay true to the Terps. He deserves an unbelievable ovation because of he showed what loyalty is all about. He shows what character is all about and not only that, but he's been a hell of a player.”
Tip-off on Saturday is 3pm EST in Maryland’s final regular season game. Now sitting at 23-7 overall and 13-6 in conference play, the Terps will have one last chance to put on a show before the postseason starts, and more importantly a quest for both a Big Ten Tournament Championship and a national title.
By: Oliver Schaack
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