Maryland falls to Purdue 83-78. Derik Queen led the Terps with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 18.
Queen’s domination: After the win over Ohio State, Willard hinted that Queen wouldn’t be in College Park for long, and he’s right. Willard did a great job running actions that would isolate one side of the floor in two-man game. Purdue had problems guarding that. The Big Ten will see a lot of that type of action. After missing his first 11 three-pointers, Queen hit back-to-back threes in the second half. What was impressive was that the next two times Queen had the ball out on the perimeter, instead of taking a heat-check three, he stayed in the offense, which opened up opportunities for others.
Reese’s foul trouble: Having a big beside Julian Reese like Queen gave me hope that Reese wouldn’t have foul trouble problems. In the past, it was understandable. Reese was constantly asked to guard bigger centers in the Big Ten conference. Today, the Terps played plenty of 2-3 zone, and Reese still had problems staying out of foul trouble despite Queen’s presence. If Reese and Willard find a way to solve the issue, Maryland will be a tough out.
Terps in drop coverage against Braden Smith: Smith torched the Terps. I understand trying to make Smith a shooter instead of a top-notch facilitator, but Smith made the Terps pay. He was 9-15 from the field, 5-9 from 3. Smith and Fletcher Loyer is one of the toughest backcourts in the Big Ten. Limiting their impact on the offense was key today, but that didn’t happen.
Terps Bench: Maryland didn’t have the offensive impact needed off the bench. In 40 bench minutes, the Terps were 1-5 from the floor, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers.
Tarfara Gapare was 0-3 from the field. Gapare is usually a spark plug, but that didn’t happen today.
Final Thoughts:
The first 20 minutes of the game reinforced how good Maryland can be.
The last 20 minutes were maddening, especially during the stretch in the second half when the Terps turned the ball over because guys were trying to do too much.
Purdue took over the game with a 20-5 run. The Terps’ defense has been excellent, but they couldn’t stop the bleeding during that stretch because the offense struggled.
