Maryland men’s basketball entered its second game of the Players Era Festival as a huge underdog to No. 12 Gonzaga — and it was apparent why right away.
Maryland escaped with some sloppy play against UNLV on Monday, but the step up in class against Gonzaga was evident.
Gonzaga imposed its will from the jump, as Maryland never led en route to a 100-61 loss at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Expectations for Tuesday night’s matchup were not high for Maryland (5-2). The Terps had to come from behind against UNLV, while Gonzaga (7-0) dominated the second half against No. 8 Alabama on Monday.
Those styles carried over to Tuesday night, as the Zags looked like the better team across the board.
“When you’re playing a team like Gonzaga, there’s nothing that you can hide because they are so good,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “You are going to be exposed. And we were exposed on multiple levels. That’s the ownership we have to have, and that includes me.”
While the Terps played a better first half than the previous night, Gonzaga led by as many as 21 points within the first 12 minutes and never let the Terps get within ten the rest of the way, despite a first-half run.
But no matter how well Maryland’s offense had played, its defense couldn’t handle Gonzaga’s attack. The Zags were prolific from deep, shooting 14-of-33 on 42% shooting. Steele Venters and Emmanuel Innocenti shot a combined 9-of-14 from beyond the arc and thoroughly outshot the entire Terps roster.
Outside of its 23-point blowout victory against Southern Utah, Gonzaga has struggled to knock down triples this season. The Zags entered the game shooting just 32.8 percent from behind the arc and were fresh off their worst three-point performance of the year.
But Tuesday night, Gonzaga woke up in a big way.
Maryland consistently sent double teams to help deal with Graham Ike’s overwhelming presence inside. It didn’t work. Through quick ball movement and great spacing, the Zags found open shooters time after time.
Those looks were going down across the board. Seven players rained in at least one three-pointer, led by 10 off the bench. Even when Maryland’s help defense recovered, Gonzaga’s ball movement left the Terps scrambling for the whole possession.
“Of all of the things that they’re the best at, shooting the three was what they were worst at,” Williams said. “I felt our plan was right. Our execution of the plan wasn’t great, and then it just kind of disintegrated on being able to do one or the other.”
Despite facing a 21-point deficit, Maryland got back to its bread and butter late in the first half. The Terps got to the line at a high clip, with Darius Adams and Pharrel Payne the leading contributors.
Adams and Payne combined for nine free throws in the opening half, fueling Maryland’s 16-4 run with just under three minutes remaining. While Maryland found success at the charity stripe, its lack of prolific shooting ultimately allowed Gonzaga to reopen a considerable lead.
But given the state of the two programs, the game’s result was expected. The Terps brought in an entirely new roster, while the Zags brought back key players and added several experienced ones as well.
A lineup included a 25-year-old Tyon Grant-Foster, who led GCU to the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons, 24-year-old Steele Venters, 23-year-old Graham Ike, 22-year-old Braden Huff and Mario Saint-Supéry, a 19-year-old former Spanish pro.
Maryland could not match Gonzaga’s firepower and never stood much of a chance. Injuries to several key players have prevented the Terps from fielding their projected starting lineup all season. Payne and Myles Rice returned for the tournament, but trying to figure things out on a national stage against a team in the host city and a top-ten juggernaut was a recipe for disaster.
Heading into Tuesday, Gonzaga was ranked No. 4 in the nation in Net Rating by KenPom. After the Zags cruised past No. 8 Alabama, the Terps had no answer against elite competition.
Maryland didn’t shoot well enough to stay competitive with the Zags. They shot 36 percent from the field and 24 percent from 3-point range. All season long, the Terps had been able to overcome the poor shooting by getting to the line, and even that didn’t work. Maryland ranked fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 81.6 and seventh in attempts per game at 32.6.
But they shot just 16-of-23 (70%) from the line and attempted nearly ten shots below their season average. With that style, Maryland didn’t have a chance.
For the Terps, they’d like to keep what happened in Vegas on Tuesday night in Vegas.
“As discouraging as [the loss] is, it’s encouraging that we get a chance to respond tomorrow,” Williams said. “How we go about the response is probably more important than the outcome of this game.”
