While Michigan tried to close the door in Maryland in the middle of the second half, freshman Hunter Dickinson grabbed his teammate’s failed kick rebound with Jairus Hamilton on his back and Eric Ayala slapping him from the bottom line.
Dickinson went back up, pulling a foul from Ayala and putting the ball inside. The native of Alexandria, Virginia screamed and left the court towards the stands while the product DeMatha loved playing against the hometown Terps, who he claimed had not recruited him.
Dickinson scored 26 points and grabbed 11 boards when Michigan exploded in the second half to defeat Maryland 84-73. The freshman simply couldn’t miss, shooting 10 to 11 from the field and 6 to 7 from the free-throw line.
“[Dickinson] it was big, physically and just its impact on the game, ”said Ayala. “I thought we played with the scout report that the coaches gave us. Hunter beat us as a team. We have to help each other better inside and those big guys. “
Michigan entered the game by throwing more than 50% of the ground and it didn’t start any differently in College Park.
In the first seven minutes of action, the Wolverines rose to a 16-7 lead, with Eric Ayala being the only freshwater turtle to score. In all, Michigan made six of his first 10 shots in the night, while Ayala was responsible for Maryland’s first three buckets.
Donta Scott hit a wide-open three from the right wing in the first media timeout to become Ayala’s first teammate to score a bucket. The Wolverines responded with a field goal on the other side, but Scott returned with a fake handoff and three from the left wing, making the game 19-13.
Maryland was warmed up from there as he extended his long-range hit series, making four of five consecutive three-point attempts.
Things were tense in the second half of the first half, when Dickinson supported Aaron Wiggins under the basket and put the ball inside. Coach Juwan Howard was near the half-court speaking at the Maryland bank, and the complaints resulted in technical problems for both banks.
As the game continued to be fierce, tensions continued to increase. Mark Turgeon was called in for a technical foul after a loose ball foul was scored over Hakim Hart after a lost tray. Dickinson would also receive a technical foul after looking and talking to the Maryland bench repeatedly after scoring.
“It was just one of those nights when it got emotional,” said Turgeon. “When there are no fans, everything is heard. Maybe if there were fans in the building, part of it would have passed, but it was an exciting game. “
Michigan carried a 46-44 lead to the locker room at halftime, with Wolverines and Terrapins shooting 58.3% and 51.6%, respectively. Maryland had the advantage with seven more shooting attempts, including a 9 of 11 lights out showing from a three-point streak.
Out of range, a blocked shot against Dickinson and another Wolverine turn gave Maryand a chance to capitalize. Aaron Wiggins took the ball on the offensive side after some changes and realized that he had an incompatibility with Dickinson. He feigned a drive and calmly took a step back while Dickinson watched the rim and sank a three-pointer to give the Terps the first advantage of the 47-46 game.
The Wolverines worked a 10-0 run to fight Maryland, having a 54-50 lead, which ended with an Eli Brooks backdoor cut and slam. As the bench jumped and screamed in celebration, Jairus Hamilton was calm and controlled as he took a quick mid-range jump to put Terps back on the board and take the deficit back to four points.
Michigan responded to the Terps’ response with a 13-0 streak, in which Dickinson scored six points, including the emphatic and a chance and a slam.
“We doubled [Dickinson] a little bit, but he’s an excellent passer, ”said Turgeon. “Sometimes he scored against the double team with two guys there defending him. We were changing the ball screens in the small formation and he had an offensive rebound on a guard. He was great. “
From the media timeout for under-eights, Dickinson hit two free throws and a tray as part of a short 6-0 run in Michigan that matched for a 19-2 extension, putting the game out of reach, 79- 61, with 5: 20 remaining.
Three things to know
1 Maryland has failed to sustain its fund success. After a slow start in the opening minutes of Thursday’s competition, the Terps eventually started to warm up from being unable to miss beyond the hoop in the first half. Maryland converted in nine of his first eleven attempts at three points, with Scott hitting a perfect 4 of 4 in the first 20 minutes of action. However, as Michigan’s defense improved, the shot disappeared as the Terps hit 4 of 11 out of three in the second half and 13 to 22 in the game.
two The Terps fought to defend the interior. After an inspired defensive performance against an offensively charged team from Wisconsin three days ago, the Terps were repeatedly defeated in dribbling against the Wolverines and allowed easy buckets on the edge. Michigan managed to get into painting apparently at ease at times, allowing Dickinson to have a career performance and the team to score 42 points in the painting.
“It wasn’t as challenging as we look, but there were some parts where we had to improve,” said Scott. “[Dickinson] we did some hard shots and got some rebounds that we should have done, but we just have to move on to the next one. “
3 – Free throws remain an issue. Maryland has consistently failed in the charity belt this season and has finally been tapped by a good free-throw team. Getting to shoot 69.6 percent of the line this season, Maryland finished around its average on Thursday night, making it just four of six attempts. On the other hand, Michigan was on the free-throw line throughout the game, going an almost perfect 18 out of 20.
“We did them against Wisconsin in times of crisis,” said Turgeon. “Tonight, we only shot six. It’s difficult when you shoot only six and they shoot 16 and a half. We need to find out how to get there more. “