The Maryland Terrapins have one of the most talented teams in the country and have a very good mix of youth and experience. The Terps started off the year 22-3, and looked as though they might be one of the favorites to cut down the nets in April just like everyone thought preseason.
On Sunday afternoon though, Maryland lost to Indiana in blowout fashion and will now limp into the Big Ten tournament where they will be the three seed. Overall, Maryland has lost four of its last six games and instead of looking like a team that can win it all, it has recently looked more like a team that should be on upset alert come NCAA tournament time.
Prior to this season, Maryland was basically the unanimous selection to take home the Big Ten championship. On Sunday afternoon thouhg, the team that actually won the regular season Big Ten championship showed that Maryland has some issues to figure out before it gets to the big dance. Indiana was the much better team, and that wasn't supposed to be the case this year.
The Terrapins are still a lock to make the NCAA tournament and are still likely to get a very good seed, but it is not ideal for them to enter the tournament not playing their best basketball. This Maryland team is loaded with talent, as mentioned before, but the key to its success is sophomore guard Melo Trimble and he has not played well recently.
Trimble still leads the team in scoring and assists, but over his last 10 games his shooting numbers have been dreadful. In those games, Trimble has shot 50 percent or better just twice. In comparison he has shot 30 percent or less five times in that same span, so it is no coincidence that Maryland has been struggling recently.
Trimble has the ability to carry Maryland to a deep tournament run - he is that good - but lately his play has really let his team down. The good news for Maryland is that they have the Big Ten tournament to figure things out before they get to the NCAA tournament. The bad news is that if Trimble and the rest of the team doesn't figure it out this week, they will not only not achieve their lofty goals, but they will be headed home early.
