Maryland @ Purdue preview
Mackey Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2021 ) Purdue 60, Maryland 61
Coming off its worst performance of a standout season, No. 3 Purdue looks to bounce back Sunday afternoon when it plays host to struggling Maryland in West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (21-4, 10-4 Big Ten) absorbed an 82-58 blowout loss at Michigan Thursday, ending the Boilermakers' six-game winning streak. Purdue shot 44 percent from the field and made a season-low 22.2 percent (4 of 18) from 3-point range -- well below its Big Ten-best 40.5 percent from behind the arc.
Jaden Ivey scored 18 points against Michigan after four straight 20-point outings, and Trevion Williams added 12 point but Purdue faltered on the boards. Purdue leads the league in rebounding margin (10.4) but the Boilermakers were outrebounded 35-25, marking the second time all season they were outrebounded.
"When you get outrebounded like we did and then you get doubled up in turnovers (14-7) and you don't shoot the ball well then you need to be very, very good on the defensive end if you want a chance to win the game and we obviously weren't," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "When you look at all those -- poor shooting percentages, twice as many turnovers, they outrebounded us by 10, a lot of breakdowns defensively, you're going to get beat pretty badly."
Maryland (11-13, 3-10) is at the bottom of the league in scoring offense and defense.
The Terrapins are on a four-game losing streak since consecutive wins over Illinois and Rutgers last month and its defense has struggled immensely in the past two games.
After allowing Ohio State to shoot 50.8 percent and make 11 3-pointers in an 82-67 loss at Ohio State on Feb. 6, the Terrapins were even worse defensively when they allowed 60 percent from the field and 19 3-pointers in a 110-87 loss to visiting Iowa on Thursday. Maryland was especially ineffective against Iowa's potent duo of Keegan Murray and Jordan Bohannon, who combined for 60 points on 22-of-30 shooting from the field.
It was the most points Maryland allowed since taking a 114-91 loss at North Carolina State on Feb. 27, 1991. It also was the most points allowed by Maryland in a home game since allowing 97 to Clemson in 2005.
Fatts Russell scored 20 points but Eric Ayala was held to nine, finishing in single digits for the fourth time in six games, and Donta Scott was held to eight after getting 25 at Ohio State.
"For us, it's more of an effort thing," Russell said after Maryland got throttled despite scoring its second-most points this season. "We just got to give 100 percent for the whole game. We can't keep talking about it."
"We got a lot of veteran guys," Russell said. "We are going to keep fighting."
--Field Level Media