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Only blemishes to an otherwise great Terps basketball weekend

was Caitlin Clark's game-winning 3--courtesy of an illegal screen from her teammate--which knocked the Lady Terps out of the #2 seed in the B1G tourney, and may keep the Lady Terps from cracking the Top 5 and bypassing Iowa in the next AP poll. Absolutely abysmal defense by Indiana to allow her to catch and release that 3 in stride with 1.4 seconds left in the game. The other blemish was Hunter DICKenson's game-tying 3 vs Wisconsin with also about 1 1/2 seconds left in regulation and allowing Michigan to stay even with the Terps in the B1G standings.
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***Northwestern Game Thread***

We're a little over an hour from tipoff between the Terps and Northwestern in College Park. Today will mark the Terps' third sellout of the season and Senior Day and final home game for at least a couple of seniors in Don Carey and Patrick Emilien. With Indiana beating Purdue last night, this game is even more massive for the Terps. A win and they move into a three, possibly five-way tie for second place in the league with two games remaining in the regular season. It would give them a head-to-head tie breaker over Northwestern to go along with head-to-head tie breakers they already own over Indiana and Illlinois. They would also own a tie break over Michigan by virtue of overall record.

As I mentioned in a preview piece, today's game is all about ball security. Northwestern is one of the best teams in the country at getting steals and forcing turnovers. In fact, the Terps have played just three teams that force more turnovers: Tennessee, UCLA and Rutgers. Limit turnovers, make their open looks and play the kind of defense they are capable of themselves and they should finish undefeated at home in league play.

Two priority recruits...

Two priority 2024 recruits expected at today's game. First is four-star top-100 Philly big man Thomas Sorber out of Archbishop Ryan. He's already been on campus this season and is one of the top rim protectors in the class. Grant Billmeier has been the lead with him as other schools like Villanova, Penn State, Georgetown, Seton Hall and Syracuse have also been prioritizing him.

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The other is Mt. Zion Prep Rivals150 four-star scoring guard Malachi Palmer. Originally from Harrisburg, Pa., Palmer has become a high-priority recruit for a number of schools and is perhaps at the top of Maryland's board at this point with regards to guards in the next cycle. Other offers include Kansas, Illinois, Houston, Georgetown, Penn State and Oregon. Like Sorber, he's already been on campus this season (multiple times).

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How to Watch: Maryland vs. Northwestern

Maryland (19-9) vs. Northwestern (20-8)

When: Sunday, Feb. 26 | 12:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Center (College Park, Md.)
Television: BTN (Streaming on FoxSports) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play), Stephen Bardo (color)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network | Listen Online

Line: Terps -6.5
Over/Under: 129.5

Series history: Maryland leads the all-time series 11-4, with the Terps winning the most recent meeting 94-87 in 2OT on Jan. 12, 2023 in Evanston.

Projected Starting Lineups

Northwestern

Boo Buie (6-foot-2, Sr., G) - Averaging a team-high 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and a team-high 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
Ty Berry (6-foot-3, Jr., G) - Averaging 8.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
Chase Audige (6-foot-4, Sr., G) - Averaging 14.5 points and 3.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a team-high 2.5 steals per game.
Robbie Beran (6-foot-9, Sr., F) - Averaging 8.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Matthew Nicholson (7-foot, Jr., C) - Averaging 6.0 points, a team-high 5.6 rebounds and a team-high 1.2 blocks per game.

Maryland
Jahmir Young (6-foot-1, Sr., PG) - Averaging a team-high 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, a team-high 3.4 assists and a team-high 1.3 steals per game.
Don Carey (6-foot-5, Sr., SG) - Averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
Hakim Hart (6-foot-8, Sr., G/F) - Averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Donta Scott (6-foot-8, Sr., F) - Averaging 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
Julian Reese (6-foot-9, Soph., F) - Averaging 11.2 points, a team-high 7.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.0 blocks per game.


How big is Sunday afternoon's game for Maryland? With a win, the Terps would move into a tie for second place in the Big Ten standings with just two games remaining. Equally as important, a win over the Wildcats would give the Terps a possible tie breakers over Northwestern should they finish the season with the same conference record. Maryland already holds a possible tie breaker over Indiana, who completed a season sweep of Purdue with a win over the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, as well as Illinois, who the Terps defeated in their lone meeting back in December.

Sunday's Senior Day will mark the third sellout in the month of February for the Terps, who will honor five seniors, although three -- Jahmir Young, Hakim Hart and Donta Scott -- could potentially return next season due to COVID.

For Maryland, one of the biggest keys Sunday will be ball security. Northwestern comes into the game with three players averaging over a steal per game, including senior guard Chase Audige, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in steals. As a team, Northwestern forces 14.5 turnovers per game. Maryland has played just three teams this season that force more turnovers: UCLA, Tennessee and Rutgers.

Defensively for the Terps, it starts with shutting down lead guard Boo Buie, who has score 20-plus points in four straight games, including a 35-point outburst in the Wildcats' most recent outing at Illinois. Another Northwestern starter Terp fans may remember is senior forward Robbie Beran, who scored a season-high 19 points last season versus the Terps. While only averaging 8 points per game this season, he's a capable three-point shooter who can spread defenses out and open up driving lanes for guards like Buie and fellow senior Chase Audige.

Sophomore big man Julian Reese enters Sunday's game playing some his best basketball of the season over the past month. He'll face another tall test in Northwestern 7-footer Matthew Nicholson, who leads the Wildcats in rebounds and averages 1.2 blocked shots per game. Hart and Scott are also coming off of big performances in the Terps' last win over Minnesota. Look for each of them to use their versatility to cause mismatches on both ends of the floor as they look to go out with a win in what could potentially be their final home game in a Terps uniform.

"Donta has been the most consistent guy for us on the defensive end all year," Willard said following the Minnesota game earlier this week. "He's our anchor. I'm able to do so many things with him defensively."

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MLAX: No. 6 Terps win at No. 4 Princeton, 11-5

PRINCETON, NJ – No. 6 Maryland had outstanding efforts on both ends of the field as the Terps won at No. 4 Princeton, 11-5, in frigid temperatures at Class of 1952 Stadium. Freshman goalie Brian Ruppel made his collegiate debut in goal and made 14 saves to anchor a Terrapin defense that allowed just five goals. The 14 saves were the most by a Maryland freshman in his first-career start since Hall of Famer Brian Dougherty made 23 in his first start as freshman on May 4, 1993 vs. Towson State.

On offense, Daniel Maltz scored four goals and added an assist for five points. Jack Koras had three goals and a helper for four points. It was Koras' second game in a row with a hat trick and four points, to equal his career best.

Daniel Kelly also scored two goals, his third game in a row with multiple goals. Maryland's other goals came from Owen Murphy and Ryan Siracusa. The Terps were 3-of-6 on man-up with Kelly, Koras and Maltz scoring with the extra man

The Terps (3-1 overall) led throughout, taking a 2-0 lead in the first quarter and holding that lead throughout thanks to stellar defense. The third quarter proved to be the decisive one as the Terps outscored Princeton 7-2 over that 15-minute span with Koras and Maltz each scoring two in the period.

In front of Ruppel, the two-time C. Markland Kelly Award winner at Catonsville High School, the Terrapin defense was stout. Brett Makar had six groundballs and caused four turnovers. Ajax Zappitello had three caused turnovers while Jack McDonald had two caused turnovers and two groundballs.

Face-off man Luke Wierman won 13-of-20 and had a game-best nine groundballs. He moved to fifth in career groundballsat Maryland and now has 242. His 450 career face-off wins stand sixth all-time.

In a rematch of the 2022 NCAA Semifinals, Princeton suffered its first loss of the season and is now 2-1. Coulter Mackesyled the Tigers with three goals.


Tillman's Take

"Definitely not the cleanest game, but really proud of the guys and how hard they played. Obviously, shoutout to Brian, who played and started his first collegiate game. I thought he played incredibly well for a young guy, just a lot of poise, good decisions in the clearing game and timely saves when we needed them. That was huge."

Breaking Down The Action
  • The Terps struck first as a result of a beautiful defensive play from Makar that led to a Kelly goal in transition. Murphy put the Terps ahead 2-0 with 50 seconds left at the end of the first quarter.
  • Maltz scored off a feed from Murphy to make it 3-1 Terps with eight minutes left in the second quarter. The Terpsled 3-1 at halftime of a defensive game. Ruppel had eight saves in the first half in allowing just one Tiger goal.
  • Maryland opened up the offense in the third quarter scoring seven goals to build a 10-3 lead after three. Maltz had three goals in the quarter and Jack Koras scored twice in the period.
  • Princeton scored two goals in the fourth quarter and Koras finished the scoring with 2:15 left in the game for the 11-5 final.
Hat Trick Terps
  • Maryland now has had a hat trick in 61 straight games dating back to February 2, 2019.
  • Maltz had his hat trick of the season and first since scoring three vs. Johns Hopkins on May 8, 2021.
  • Koras had his second hat trick in as many weeks.

Maltz!
  • Maltz had his biggest game since April 18, 2021 against Ohio State when he also had four goals and an assist for five points.
  • It was the seventh time in Maltz' career that he scored four goals in a game and first since that Ohio State game in 2021. He did it five times in the 2021 season, including five against Michigan in the season opener on Feb. 20, 2021.
  • Maltz had multiple points in a game for the 27th time in his career and third this season. It was the 16th time Maltzhad multiple goals in a game and second this season.
Ruppel's Debut
  • Ruppel became the first Maryland freshman to start in goal for the Terps since Logan McNaney started against Notre Dame on Feb. 29, 2020, making 10 saves in a win.
  • Ruppel's 14 saves were the most by a freshman in his first-career start since Brian Dougherty made 23 vs. Towson on May 4, 1993. That was the 10th game of the season and Dougherty led Maryland to the NCAA Tournament.
Multi-Terps Update
  • In addition to Maltz, here is the rundown of multiples for the Terps:
  • Koras had his eighth career game with multiple points and fifth with multiple goals and second in a row with three goals and four points.
  • Braden Erksa had two assists for the first time in his career. It was also his second game with multiple points this season as he had three points on two goals and an assist in the opener vs. Richmond.
  • Kyle Long had two assists for 38th all-time game with multiple points and 21st with multiple assists.
  • Kelly had his fifth career multiple point and fourth multiple goal game with two goals.
  • Murphy's goal and assist for two points gave him 18th career multi-point game.

Numbers To Know
  • 1: Dante Trader Jr. had his first college assist, a week after scoring twice.
  • 2: Koras has scored three goals for two consecutive weeks, his first two career hat tricks.
  • 4: Maltz scored four goals in a game for the seventh time in his career.
  • 5: In holding Princeton to five goals, the Terps are now 117-11 when holding opponents to single-digits under John Tillman since 2011.
  • 6: With six groundballs, Makar was one shy of his career-best of seven set in 2021.
  • 10: The Terps are now 141-16 in games they score 10 or more goals since John Tillman took over in 2011.
  • 14: The 14 saves by Ruppel were the most by a freshman in his first Maryland start since Hall of Famer Brian Dougherty made 23 in his first game on May 4, 1994 against Towson State.
  • 22: Long extended his point-scoring streak to 22 games dating back to the 2021 season.
  • 27: Wierman won double-figure face-offs for the 27th time in his career.
  • 242: Wierman moved to fifth in career groundballs with 242, corralling nine in the game.
  • 450: Wierman now has 450 career face-off wins, sixth-most in Maryland history.

Series History
  • The Terps lead the all-time series with Princeton 34-12-1, a series that dates to 1927.
  • Maryland has won six meetings in a row dating to 2006.
  • Maryland won both of last season's meetings 15-11 in the regular-season College Park and 13-9 in the NCAA Semifinals.

Up Next
  • The Terps will return home to host No. 3 Notre Dame at SECU Stadium on Saturday, March 4 at 1 pm. The game will be broadcast on B1G+.

Has anyone seen this

Antoine Davis of Detruit Mercy is with 125 points of breaking Pete Maravich's Division 1 scoring record. Granted Davis has played more than 60 more career games then Maravich.

When Pete played freshman were also not eligible, and there was no three-point shot.

MD women tipped at OSU…

Had 4 point lead most of 1st qtr but went cold late making just 1 of last 8 fgs, trailed 17-16 after 1st qtr. Playing box and 1 on Mikesell, guarded by Shy but she picked up a foul 16 seconds into game, then guarded by Myers, then by Pinzan but she allowed all 4 of Mikesell’s points, then later Briggs on Mikesell. Brinae staying hot with 2 3’s already! Terps now up 25-22, 6:18 2nd qtr.

Coaching search….

It appears Charlie Strong should officially be on board soon. Mentioned that he was on campus recently and seen out around town with Locks. Again, don’t see him coaching safeties, my guess is he swaps with Thomas and takes on linebackers and Thomas slides over to safeties.

In a surprising twist, it appears Pep Hamilton might very well be coming aboard, also. This one is a bit surprising as he turned down several NFL opportunities and I had mentioned that I heard he wanted to keep his son in school down in the Houston area. Perhaps he was convinced to move his son up here and he’ll play in the WCAC or maybe his family stays down in Texas and he comes up here alone. His last college stint was as Michigan’s passing game coordinator back in 2018.
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