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The regular season finale has arrived in the Big Ten Conference.
No. 25 Michigan (19-11, 10-9 Big Ten) traveled to College Park for a showdown with No. 9 Maryland (23-7, 13-6).
The Wolverines are coming off a win over Nebraska on Thursday, while the Terrapins are licking their wounds after back-to-back losses to Rutgers and Michigan State. Maryland has lost three of their past four, with the only victory coming by one point over Minnesota.
Michigan got off to a slow start offensively, and fell behind 18-9 in the opening ten minutes of play. The Wolverines had a couple of surges, but the first half was mostly dominated by Maryland, who took a 41-28 lead into halftime.
NEGATIVES:
- Michigan struggled mightily to get stops on the defensive end of the floor in the first half. Maryland shot a blistering 14-of-22 on their two-point attempts in the first half. The offensive sets that the Terrapins are running have the Wolverines running in circles, and they’ve resulted in good look after good look in the opening 20 minutes.
- To go along with the defensive letdowns, Michigan went through some droughts offensively as well. The Wolverines shot 50 percent from the floor (11-of-22), but have really hurt themselves with turnovers. Michigan had 7 giveaways in the first half. They’ll need to play much better on both ends to have a shot at a comeback.
- Franz Wagner got off to a nice start offensively, scoring five points on 2-for-3 shooting including a triple. However, the freshman had to leave early in the first half due to two quick fouls. The Wolverines’ struggles on offense somewhat coincided with Wagner’s departure. The freshman will have to play smart and defend without fouling as the second half gets underway.
POSITIVES:
- The Wolverines were stagnant offensively to start this game, but sophomore guard David DeJulius provided an offensive spark off the bench. DeJulius scored 13 points to lead Michigan, and did it on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting. There wasn’t a whole lot to like about the Wolverines’ play in that first half, but the sophomore was certainly a highlight.