Tough climb ahead for Mount
Mount St. Mary’s to meet Texas Southern in First Four with Michigan looming; Loyola Maryland falls short of NCAA berth.
were in because we’ve beaten them twice.
“And we’re going into that last [region] and you really could tell, like, ‘We’re going to play a 10, we’re going to play UConn.’ I mean, it was like we were saying that as the bracket came out . ... Maybe because it took so long, the reaction was better.
“We had a couple guys in tears, they were so happy. It’s been an incredibly amazing year, [a] difficult year but amazing. From 4-9 [in conference play] to the NCAA Tournament is pretty cool.”
The Terps last played the Huskies (15-7, 12-7 Big East) in the 2015-16 season, a 77-66 Maryland win in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Maryland has met UConn twice in postseason play; the Terps defeated the Huskies, 90-82, in the 2002 Elite Eight en route to the program’s lone NCAA championship title, and UConn beat Maryland 99-89 in the 1995 Sweet Sixteen.
Last year’s Maryland team, led by All-Big Ten players Anthony Cowan Jr. and Jalen Smith (Mount Saint Joseph), was a trendy pick to make the Final Four. But Maryland began the 2020-21 conference schedule on shaky ground, still adjusting to the departure of the all-conference players, along with an exodus of transfers. The Terps started the season 4-9 in conference play but remained optimistic due to Top-25 wins over Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue.
Using smaller lineups and relying on a defense that was perhaps the Big Ten’s best over the final month of the season, Maryland won five straight games in February to strengthen its tournament resume. Senior guard Darryl Morsell was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and junior guards Aaron Wiggins and Eric Ayala were given honorable mention recognition by coaches and media.
Despite finishing the regular season with two straight losses, the Terps responded with a resounding 11-point win over Michigan State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. Maryland lost by 13 to top-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals, a game in which Wolverines coach Juwan Howard was ejected after a midcourt shouting match with Turgeon.
Nine Big Ten teams made the tournament; Illinois joined Michigan as a No. 1 seed.
“I think we’re in because of our league, obviously,” Turgeon said. “Our NET [ranking] was really high, our strength of schedule was top 10. Our league had a lot to do with it. Because our league was so good, especially at the top, for us, we had to figure out a way to compete and give ourselves a chance to winl.”
UConn, which finished third in the Big East and lost to Creighton in its conference tournament semifinals, is led by guards James Bouknight and R.J. Cole. Bouknight, who averages a team-high 19 points per game, is a first-team All-Big East selection.