BALTIMORE, Maryland February 1, 2016 - Maryland's basketball team - ranked No. 4 in the new AP Top 25 poll - was back on the road in the Big Ten Conference on Sunday afternoon. To be more precise, they were on the road at Ohio State, where a great big field house, the "Value City Arena at The Jerome Schottenstein Center," was jammed up with 16,592 angry fans, not a few of which were ensconced in a section of the arena called, according to Wikipedia, the "Buckeye Nuthouse." Almost of all of the assembled multitude had a fine, fresh and very very vivid recollection of the whipping that Maryland had put on their beloved Buckeyes less than two weeks ago.
Then the game started. That is when Maryland discovered that in addition to the nasty crowd, there was the ubiquitous veteran Big Ten Officiating Crew and all of the peculiarities they were ready to bring to the game. And then there were the Terrapins themselves. If barn doors were mounted on the Value City backboards, the Terp players would have had trouble hitting them from the three-point arc. At least, that is how it seemed.
You get the picture. It was that kind of game. A miserable and gritty game, a plodding game, an overly physical game that seemed to turn on every peculiar call, every hard-earned point, every change in strategy. With two very good Big Ten teams just one-half game ahead of Maryland in the conference standings, and with tournament time coming into extreme focus on the very near horizon, this was also a game these Terrapins could not even think of losing. This was a game that in many ways would define a season. It was a game a good team - a team that these Terps yearn to be and think they are - would somehow bring home. Somehow. Some way.
The rout that Maryland put on Ohio State back on January 18 had been of epic proportions. Maryland had scored more points that Saturday afternoon than in any other game since sometime in 2012. The final score was 100-65, and it wasn't really that close. On Sunday, everything was reversed. The biggest lead that Maryland had in second half on Sunday was six measley points, and that six-point lead was with 16:04 to play. Ten minutes later, with 6:55 left, the Maryland lead was no lead; Ohio State had spurted ahead, 66-65.
Three more gut-wrenching moments elapse. Now there were just over three minutes left. Maryland brings the ball up the floor clinging, quite precariously clinging, even desperately clinging, to a one-point advantage. Rasheed Sulaimon had been strangely quiet throughout the game on the offensive end of the floor. He hadn't even attempted a 'three,' instead preoccupying himself chiefly by playing extremely tenacious defense. Now, however, point guard Melo Trimble was looking for Sulaimon. Ohio State was paying lots of defensive attention to Trimble, who would finish the game leading all scorers with 20 points. Trimble knew, as he struggled to find an opening for himself or somebody else in a Terrapin uniform, that Maryland absolutely had to score on this trip up the floor or risk the Buckeyes retaking the lead. So Trimble whipped a sudden pass to Sulaimon, who had come open on the left side of the floor, just a foot or two beyond the three-point arc. Sulaimon caught the ball and stepped into his shot all in one simply gorgeous fluid motion. The high-arcing shot fell through the steel rim touching nothing but the net. The Maryland lead swelled to four points, although to the Terps and their coaches and fans it seemed like a whole lot more, so close had this game been.
The next time Maryland brought the ball down the floor - Ohio State climbed back within two points in the interim - Sulaimon took a position on the right side of the floor. In short order, the ball came to him a few feet beyond the arc, at about where the foul line would be were it extended. Sulaimon dribbled the ball and faked and, by doing so, worked himself into the lane. There, the Ohio State defense collapsed on him. Suddenly, Sulaimon's right arm swung high up over his head in a kind of hooking motion, the ball was in his right hand, and with the motion of his arm the ball came out and zipped quickly and accurately to Trimble, spotted up and, surprisingly, open in the left corner. After missing quite a few shots from around the arc - shots that were not taken in crunch time - this Trimble shot, taken at the absolute apex of crunch time, now also caught nothing but net on its way through the basket. Sulaimon was credited with the assist. Now, Maryland led by a 'huge' five points and there was only 2:06 left.
It seems as if Maryland almost expects Trimble and Sulaimon to bail them out and bring them home every time the game is close. And so many of these Maryland games are exactly that. Normally, that would not seem like a prudent strategy; it seems like a lot of pressure to be heaping onto the backs of these two still-very-young men. But you know, it seems like Trimble and Sulaimon might just be up for this daunting challenge, even if it lasts the duration of this NCAA basketball season.
We might just be afforded an opportunity to find out if relying on Trimble and Sulaimon is a good idea, because there are no signs anywhere of deviating from the strategy.
In the wake of the weekend games, Maryland (19-3 overall, 8-2 in the Big Ten) still stands in third place in the Big Ten, just one-half game behind co-leaders Indiana and Iowa. Both the Hoosiers and the Hawkeyes are 8-1 in the conference. Indiana is 18-4 overall, while Iowa is 17-4. As a side note, and to show how capricious (and goofy) the college basketball polls can be, consider this: in the new AP Poll, Maryland is no. 4, Iowa is no. 5 and Indiana is no. 22, behind no. 10 Michigan State (6-4 in the Big Ten, 19-4 overall) and no. 18 Purdue (7-3 in the Big Ten, 19-4 overall). And don't forget, Michigan is 7-2 in the Big Ten and 17-5 overall. You might want to look at the Standings in the Big Ten:
1. Tie: No. 5 Iowa: 8-1 in Big Ten, 17-4 overall
No. 22 Indiana: 8-1 in Big Ten, 18-4 overall
3. No. 4 Maryland: 8-2 in Big Ten, 19-3 overall; 0.5 GB
4. Unranked Michigan: 7-2 in Big Ten, 17-5 overall; 1 GB
5. No. 18 Purdue: 7-3 in Big Ten; 19-4 overall; 1.5 GB
6. Tie: No. 10 Mich. State: 6-4 in Big Ten; 19-4 overall; 2.5 GB
Unranked Ohio St.: 6-4 in Big Ten; 14-9 overall; 2.5 GB
8. Unranked Wisconsin: 5-4 in Big Ten; 13-9 overall; 3 GB
9. Unranked Nebraska: 4-5 in Big Ten; 12-10 overall; 4 GB
10. Unranked N'western: 3-7 in Big Ten; 15-8 overall; 5.5 GB
11. Tie: Unranked Penn St.: 2-7 in Big Ten; 11-11 overall; 6 GB
Unranked Illinois: 2-7 in Big Ten; 10-12 overall; 6 GB
13. Unranked Rutgers: 0-9 in Big Ten; 6-16 overall; 8 GB
14. Unranked Minn.: 0-10 in Big Ten; 6-16 overall; 8.5 GB
Valparaiso Destroys Youngstown State, 97-68, to Stay Two Games Ahead in Horizon League Race; Crusaders are 19-4 Overall and 9-1 in Conference; With RPI of 40, Valpo May Be In Contention for At-Large Bid to NCAA
Valparaiso is the ultimate 'below-the-radar' college basketball team. They have a gaudy record of 19-4, a win at Oregon State and a very narrow loss at No. 16 Oregon, and yet, except for a few votes early in the season, no one following the AP Top 25 would have ever heard of them. Saturday night they destroyed Youngstown State at the ARC - their home field house - to move to that 19-4 overall record and 9-1 in the Horizon League.
Normally, the only thing all of this means to the folk at Valpo is that they will get the top seed and a very real home court advantage in the Horizon League Tournament. The Horizon League, like a lot of so-called Mid-Major Conferences, rarely gets more than one bid to the NCAA Tournament. That is, in most years, the only Horizon League Team that will be in the NCAA field come March will be the winner of the conference tournament.
But this isn't "most years." This year, in addition to the gaudy record, the Crusaders have an extremely solid NCAA RPI. Tje RPI is a computer comparison of Division I NCAA teams. Since Valparaiso plays a very tough non-conference schedule, and won some of those games, their RPI puts them in a place where they will have a real chance at an at-large bid to the national tournament if they stumble in the conference tournament. All of this assumes that they go on to win the Horizon League and then play deep into the Horizon Tournament. Unlike most of the mid-major conferences, however, the Horizon League does not play their tournament at a neutral location. Every tournament game is at the school with the highest seed. The top seed in that tournament gets to play all of their tournament games on their home floor.
Alec Peters led Valparaiso on Saturdaty night with 18 points. The Crusaders had an astounding 54-32 halftime advantage as no starter played more than 23 minutes. The up-to-the-minute Horizon League Standings are as follows:
1. Valparaiso: 9-1 in the Horizon League; 19-4 overall
2. Wright State: 7-3 in the Horizon League; 13-10 overall
3. Milwaukee: 6-3 in the Horizon League; 15-7 overall
Oakland: 6-3 in the Horizon League; 14-8 overall
5. Green Bay: 5-4 in the Horizon League; 13-9 overall
6. Northern Kentucky: 4-5 in the Horizon League; 8-12 overall
7. Detroit: 4-6 in the Horizon League; 10-11 overall
Youngstown State: 4-6 in the Horizon League; 9-14 overall
9. Cleveland State: 2-8 in the Horizon League; 7-16 overall
10. Univ. of Ill. - Chi.: 1-9 in the Horizon League; 3-18 overall
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