No. 6 Michigan Starts Fast, Beats No. 24 Maryland 65-52
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — After a startling loss at last-place Penn State earlier in the week, Michigan coach John Beilein had a pretty good idea how his team would respond.
"I had no doubt our defense would be strong today," he said.
Charles Matthews scored 14 points and Iggy Brazdeikis added 13 to lift No. 6 Michigan to a 65-52 victory over No. 24 Maryland on Saturday.
The Wolverines raced out to a 14-2 advantage and led by as much as 15 in the first half.
It was a struggle for Michigan after that, but that big deficit was too much for Maryland to overcome.
"You know how we are. Usually when we lose a game, we come back swinging super hard," Michigan's Isaiah Livers said. "We played horrible at Penn State."
Michigan led 27-18 at halftime. Maryland turned the ball over 13 times in the first half.
The Terrapins (19-7, 10-5 Big Ten) had only three turnovers in the second, but the damage was done.
"They got up to play and we didn't," said Anthony Cowan Jr., who scored 10 points for Maryland. "You can't have those types of starts against teams like that."
Michigan (23-2, 12-3) had only six turnovers in the game and none in the second half.
Maryland looked like the better team for much of the second, and with the Terps down five, Cowan had a chance to cut further into the lead. But he missed an easy layup, and Brazdeikis made a 3-pointer at the other end to make it 50-42.
Bruno Fernando scored all 12 of his points in the second half for Maryland.
BIG PICTURE
Maryland: The Terrapins are 6-3 when trailing at halftime this season, including 5-2 in Big Ten games. But that's a tough trend to rely on against good teams on the road. Fernando was impressive early in the second half, but that wasn't enough, and Maryland missed a bunch of 3-pointers toward the end.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Michigan might drop anyway because of the loss to Penn State, and Maryland may rise anyway after beating Purdue by 14 earlier in the week.
UP NEXT
Maryland: The Terrapins play at No. 21 Iowa on Tuesday night.
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