Maryland basketball: 5 best seasons in Terrapins history, ranked
Sweet Sixteen Appearance. . 439. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. player. 2018 (23-11). 4
Maryland basketball reaches the Sweet Sixteen in 2018-2019.
I give the number four spot to the 2018-19 Maryland basketball squad because they did so much with a less experienced team. The narrative all year was that they were really young. Their youth throughout the season proved to be their best asset with the exception of a few games. Bruno Fernando, Eric Ayala, Aaron Wiggins, and Jalen Smith all proved to be productive as starters in their first year while Serell Smith Jr. and Ricky Lindo Jr. provided good minutes off the bench.
Cowan Jr. was the unquestioned leader of this team and performed as such. The most impressive part of the team was the frontcourt. The pair of Fernando and Smith was a big reason why the team was so successful. Fernando brought energy and enthusiasm on the floor that livened the Xfinity Center every home game and Smith came into his own as well.
The Terps faced their first real test against fourth-ranked Virginia led by Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter, and Ty Jerome. The Terps lost that matchup 76-71 and those three players were an integral part of the close win. The Cavaliers outscored them 19-4 in points off turnovers and it didn’t help Maryland’s cause that they shot 50 percent from the perimeter in the first half.
After beating the Penn State Nittany Lions and losing to the Purdue Boilermakers before Big Ten play was officially underway, the Terps won six in a row getting wins over the No. 24 Nebraska Cornhuskers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Minnesota Golden Gophers, No. 22 Indiana Hoosiers, Wisconsin Badgers, and Ohio State Buckeyes. Fast forward to tournament time, their run in the Big Ten Tournament was short-lived after losing to Nebraska 69-61 and they played two hard-fought games as the sixth seed in the East region against the No.11 Belmont Bruins and No. 3 LSU Tigers in the Sweet Sixteen.
That game ended in a crushing defeat for the Terps. The last play didn’t go their way. A rematch between the Michigan State Spartans and the Terps in the Elite Eight would have been a great game to watch. That upcoming offseason, they went to work in the weight room, and it paid dividends throughout next season.