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B1G basketball notebook: Maryland hosts another big one in brutal stretch, plus more from around the league
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With it being finals week for many schools in the Big Ten, it’s a light weekday schedule across the conference, as only 3 teams — Minnesota and Maryland tonight and Wisconsin Thursday evening — are in action.
The big one is tonight, as the No 20 Terrapins host the 16th-ranked UCLA Bruins in College Park, Md. Maryland, which is 8-2 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten, is in the midst of a brutal stretch. After beating then-No. 16 Illinois Dec. 2, it lost at Wisconsin, then to No. 7 Tennessee in New York, and now it has the top-20 Bruins in the XFINITY Center. That’s 3 ranked opponents in a 12-day span, plus a trip to the always-challenging Kohl Center in Madison. The Terps have lost their last 2, falling by 5 to the Badgers and 3 to the Volunteers.
It’s left 1st-year coach Kevin Willard feeling like he might need to schedule differently in the future.
“It’s great. I just think it needs to be sprinkled out better,” Willard told Maryland’s 247Sports.com site. “My whole point (is) I love playing the games. But like, if we had played Tennessee at the beginning of November, when we first started, it would give us more time to work on what we found out (vs. the Vols).
“And then you have your two conference games, and you throw UCLA in there, then you have your tournament. Now you’re talking about 7 power games before you even get to Big Ten play. And I think that’s what fans don’t understand, for the most part, is now that we’re at 20 games — and starting probably next year going to 22 games — in conference play, it’s a grind, and it’s brutal.”
That is especially so for a Maryland team that is short on depth. The Terrapins’ 5 starters are each playing at least 26 minutes per game, with 3 others who are coming off the bench to average between 13 and 17. It’s worn down the Terps, which seemed evident in the first half vs. Tennessee on Sunday when Maryland made only 3-of-24 shot attempts.
“You just really gotta be careful how much you tax your guys early in the year, because you can really get worn down,” Willard said.
An apology to Rutgers
The Big Ten admitted an officiating mistake at the end of the Rutgers-Ohio State game last week.
But it won’t change the outcome.
Friday, the conference said officials Larry Scirotto, Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers erred at the end of Rutgers’ 67-66 loss at 25th-ranked Ohio State the night before. The Buckeyes won the game at the buzzer when Tanner Holden threw the ball in from about 30-feet. But he had been out of bounds, on his own volition, before being the 1st to touch the ball after coming back onto the court. It’s a violation. The ball should have been awarded back to the Scarlet Knights, with a 2-point lead and only a second or so remaining.
“I spoke to the Big Ten offices and they acknowledged that mistakes were made,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell told NJ.com on Friday. “We’re going to move forward to Seton Hall now.”
The league released this statement, saying the game-deciding play “should have been stopped and the ball ruled dead. The officiating crew that was on the court is one of the best in the country, but unfortunately missed the call. The Big Ten Conference takes officiating very seriously and has addressed the matter with both the member institutions and the officiating crew. Additionally, the conference will be providing added education and rule reinforcement to our basketball officials.”
Watch 4
Four teams are without starters in the middle of December, hoping to get them back before conference games resume in a couple weeks.
Iowa’s Kris Murray (foot), Purdue’s Mason Gillis (back), Indiana’s Jalen Hood-Schifino (back) and Michigan State’s Malik Hall (foot) have each missed multiple games. While none is expected to be sidelined into the new calendar year, coaches would like to get each back as soon as possible, to say the least.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery has been mum on the status of Murray, who has missed the last 2 games. Gillis has missed 2 straight, without much information on a potential return date. Hall, who has missed 7 games, could return as soon as Michigan State’s next contest, Dec. 21.
Hood-Schifino perhaps is the closest to a return. No. 14 Indiana plays at 8th-ranked Kansas on Saturday.
“He is back on the floor a little bit now, shooting and moving around a little bit, kind of gingerly, but just the fact that he is back on the floor, (that’s good),” IU coach Mike Woodson said on his weekly radio show Tuesday. “I couldn’t even get him on the floor over the past 4 games.”
Kyle Charters, a familiar face at Gold & Black, covers Purdue, Indiana and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.