While extra rest is valuable, so is shaking off any rust that might be present from a layoff. For most of the final 20 minutes, Maryland looked like the team that was a 13-point favorite. That was not the case for Maryland in the opening 20 minutes, as it let Minnesota creep around. Maryland is too talented, too physical and too fast for the team that finished last in the conference. The first two times Minnesota faced Maryland, the Gophers looked like they didn’t belong on the same court as the Terps. But from the opening tip, similar to the teams’ previous meetings, there was little doubt Maryland would walk away victorious. Minnesota upset Nebraska, 78-75, in round one to earn a matchup with Maryland. But in some ways, it got a mini-bye when Minnesota appeared on the schedule. Maryland squandered its opportunity to earn a double-bye and an automatic trip to the quarterfinals when it lost to Penn State in the final game of the regular season. Despite not earning the double-bye, Maryland got an opportunity for a tune-up in an ugly win. Let’s get to some takeaways from the second-round win. “I think the last couple of days we’ve had a lot of fun in practice,” head coach Kevin Willard said. Maryland will play Indiana in the quarterfinals Friday night at 9 p.m. While the game never felt close, the score indicated it was.įour players scored double figures for Maryland, including a game-high 20 points from Donta Scott. Maryland was clearly the better team but failed to impose its superiority over Minnesota for long stretches.

It wasn’t as easy as the first two times Maryland played Minnesota, where the Terps won by an average score of 26. 14-seed Minnesota, 70-54, Thursday night. 6-seed Maryland men’s basketball is moving onto the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals after edging out No.

Win 10 tune up