Wiggins’ struggles continuing

Guard shoots 2-for-11 in loss vs. Michigan

From an important player’s offensive struggles to how a key injury could affect the team going forward, here are three takeaways from the Maryland men’s basketball team’s 84-73 loss to No. 16 Michigan on Thursday.

Wiggins has had an up-anddown start to the season and it continued against Michigan.

Junior guard Aaron Wiggins began the 2020 season with three straight games of scoring in double figures, a welcome sign for the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. But in the following three games, the 2018 four-star prospect failed to register more than six points in an outing, including a combined 5-for-18 shooting in losses to Clemson and Rutgers.

Wiggins, who has previously dealt with an elbow injury, responded well, scoring in double figures in the following three games. He played a crucial role in the Terps’ upset win over No. 6 Wisconsin on Monday, recording 15 points. But Wiggins’ inconsistent play continued in Thursday’s loss to Michigan as he shot 2-for-11 from the field.

Entering a season without Anthony Cowan Jr. or Jalen Smith, Wiggins was one of multiple players who Maryland needed to take a step forward. Through 10

games, Wiggins has only slightly increased his scoring efficiency while struggling to connect from deep (26.3%).

Wiggins is still one of three players on the team averaging 10 points, along with junior guard Eric Ayala (14.8) and sophomore forward Donta Scott (13.5). However, with Wiggins taking a team-high 10.2 shots per game, he’s by far the least inefficient of the trio.

Wiggins seemed to embrace his sixthman designation last season and with Maryland’s departures, it’s understandable that he was expected to step into a starting role. But whether it’s bringing him off the bench or setting up more plays to get him comfortable, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon and his staff need to get more consistent play out of Wiggins.

The effectiveness of Maryland’s smallball lineup has yet to be determined.

Maryland’s comeback win over Wisconsin served as a bit of validation for the small-ball lineup that sparked the victory. The Terps took advantage of mismatches when they were on offense and battled hard against the Badgers’ frontcourt on defense.

But against Michigan, center Hunter Dickinson, who even as a freshman has begun to cement himself as a premier big man in the Big Ten, Maryland had no answer. The local product from DeMatha in Hyattsville, seemingly playing with a chip on his shoulder, bullied whomever Maryland threw his way en route to a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds.

The Terps are bereft of many post options and Turgeon was unwavering in his commitment to the small-ball lineup in his postgame comments.

“He manhandled our guards in there,” Turgeon said. “We are who we are. We’ve got to figure out a way to guard with this lineup.

“I’m going to put the best players on the floor, and if they’re all 6-6 or shorter, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Darryl Morsell’s facial injury once again raises questions about depth.

Even with senior guard Morsell (Mount Saint Joesph) exiting the game with a facial injury shortly before the end of the first half, the Terps were able to take their first lead early in the second half.

But there’s no doubt that the team felt the loss of Morsell, the team’s leader, top perimeter defender and now, with a smaller lineup, a de facto post presence.

Whether Morsell could have played a role in stopping Dickinson is unlikely — he held a stat line of 11 points and three rebounds at halftime — but Morsell’s absence stretched a team that had displayed decent depth so far.

Morsell’s injury forced sophomore guard Hakim Hart to start the second half, while Scott, who Turgeon said was “exhausted,” played a career-high 39 minutes and spent much of that time attempting to limit Dickinson.

Morsell went to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore after the game and the team announced Friday that he underwent successful surgery for a fractured bone in his face.

He is expected to miss one to two weeks.