Bob Haynie: Terps Suffer A Bad Loss To Minnesota
The Maryland Terrapins went to Williams Arena on Thursday night looking to get back on track after losing to Wisconsin at home last Saturday. Surprisingly, instead of getting an expected feel-good win, the Terps suffered their worst loss of the season.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers, who were 0-13 in the Big Ten, upset Maryland 68-63 to hand the Terps their second consecutive conference defeat. With the win, Minnesota not only won their first Big Ten game, they also ended a 14-game losing skid.
This is not a devastating loss for Mark Turgeon and the Turtles, but it is a bad one. Potentially, a very bad one when it comes to possible NCAA Tournament seeding.
Even though Maryland was playing without freshman stud Diamond Stone, they still had more than enough talent to take care of Minnesota. Obviously, that didn't happen.
Another thing Maryland didn't take care of was the basketball. They committed 15 more turnovers on Thursday night. That seems about right for a team that sports one of the worst turnover margins (-2.5) in the Big Ten.
Guard Melo Trimble shot just 3-for-11 from floor against the Golden Gophers at The Barn. Over his last four games, Trimble is shooting an abysmal 7-for-38. Trimble is Maryland's best player. It is imperative the he gets his game rolling again.
Maryland trailed for the vast majority of the contest before Rasheed Sulaimon buried a three-pointer to put the Terps up 60-59 with 3:04 left in the second half. Sulaimon led the team in scoring with a career-high 28 points.
The Golden Gophers, to their credit, answered the challenge and made their foul shots down the stretch to secure the W.
For Maryland, it's time to ramp it up with the regular season winding down and the Big Dance less than a month away. Losing to a team that shot 6-for-30 in the second half is not exactly something you want on your resume.
While losing to Minnesota didn't end their season, it was unacceptable. At this late stage of the game, Maryland can't afford any more unacceptable losses.
