The top of the AP Top 25 poll is sure to see another shake up next week, as Michigan upset Maryland 70-67 on Tuesday night, confirming that two of the poll’s top three squads would fall on the road against conference foes.
Zak Irvin stole the show for the Wolverines (13-4, 3-1), who were without stud Caris LeVert for the third straight game, with 22 points, but Duncan Robinson poured in 17 points, helped along by five three-pointers. Maryland (15-2, 4-1) struggled on the perimeter, as Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon combined to shoot 4-of-17 from the field, scoring just 10 points and turning the ball over seven times. It was, by far, the worst performance by a UMD backcourt since Trimble arrived on campus a year ago.
If there was a positive in the loss, Maryland saw senior Jake Layman find his aggressiveness, scoring 18 points on 10 attempts while grabbing 10 rebound as well. Only once this season, against Princeton, has Laymen scored more than 18 points. The Terps also got big nights from Robert Carter Jr. (15 points) and Diamond Stone (22 points and 11 rebounds). Still, losing despite those numbers underscores just how important guard play is to Mark Turgeon’s group. Without production from Trimble and Sulaimon, the Terrapins have no other threats on the perimeter, as Jared Nickens has yet to establish himself as a consistent option.
For Michigan, the win restores a bit of mojo that the program had been missing in recent years and signaled that, perhaps, this group is ready to turn the corner and be a factor in the Big 10 race. Five teams are now within one game of the first place Indiana Hoosiers, including Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State. The conference looks as wide open as it was expected to be in the preseason and with Denzel Valentine back in East Lansing, we haven’t even begun to see things heat up like they will as March nears.
