From the jump, No. 8 Alabama looked like the superior team against Maryland men’s basketball. The Tide went on a run and took a huge lead over the Terps. 

That was something that was common on Wednesday in Las Vegas. The Terps would show some life, just to get steamrolled by the Tide.

Maryland fell for the second straight game in the Players Era Festival, 105-72 to Alabama. 

The Terps’ rough start put them in a hole they could never recover from. The Tide started on a quick run to build a lead. Just as the Terps scored a few buckets, Alabama went on another run. The Tide had a 17-point lead within seven minutes of the game.

The Terps were simply playing from behind before they could even get warmed up. 

Playing in its third game in as many days, Maryland was clearly fatigued. Playing its second-consecutive top-12 opponent, the Terps couldn’t find a rhythm and were simply outmatched. 

Maryland consistently found itself in a 20-point hole and head coach Buzz Williams and company watched time tick to get back on the plane to College Park. 

Maryland relied on Pharrel Payne and Darius Adams to score, but it wasn’t enough. Adams led the Terps with 20 points and Payne had 14. 

 The Terps fell down big early in the game and were never competitive.  

Maryland’s lineups consisted of its typical starters, but implemented some more of his bench because of playing three games in three days. Guillermo Del Pino played 20 minutes and scored 10 points. Aleks Alston also saw extensive minutes, outsourcing several of Maryland’s starters. Alston scored eight points on Wendesday. 

Coming off Maryland’s worst loss since losing in 2009, a 39-point blowout to Gonzaga. Wednesday wasn’t much of an improvement —- the Terps lost by 33 to Alabama. 

Alabama did damage from beyond the arc, shooting 14-of-31 (45.2%). The Terps had no answer for the Tide’s lethal offense. Maryland couldn’t keep up, shooting 9-of-27 (33.3%). 

Alabama was led by Labaron Philon with 20 points and Aden Holloway with 17 points. The Tide’s lead scorers had no issues thrashing through Maryland’s defense for open looks and easy dunks. 

The Terps went on a bit of a run late in the first half as they cut the deficit to as close as 15, but they simply outmatched. 

Maryland trailed by 20 at halftime and were overpowered in every category. The Terps didn’t match Alabama’s efficiency or intensity and rightfully found themselves in a big hole. 

The Terp somewhat eliminated the turnover bug on Wednesday, only having nine turnovers. 

With a completely new roster, Maryland was expected to struggle against stronger competition. In this Players Era Festival, the Terps had a very difficult draw. Gonzaga and Alabama came in as two of the strongest teams in the field, with the exception of Michigan — the tournament’s champion that the Terps will play on Dec. 13. 

The Terps beat UNLV, but didn’t play well and that continued in the final two games of the tournament. Maryland wasn’t in the same stratosphere as Alabama or Gonzaga.

This roster played its second full-strength game together on Monday and had been dealing with injuries prior to this tournament. Solomon Washington didn’t appear in this tournament and the Terps will get a major boost when he comes back. 

The Terps will leave what happened in Vegas, in Vegas. But will have valuable experience from this tournament later on. 

Losing consecutive games by 72 combined points is something the Terps will have to build on moving forward.