Maryland has definitely fallen on tough times lately, but there may be some light in sight. After all, Virginia is considered to be one of the worse teams in the ACC, and Maryland gets them at home.
That's not to say Virginia's a cake walk - no team in the ACC is. If Maryland can lose to Morgan State, they can sure as hell lose to Virginia. But Virginia is exactly the team I'd want Maryland to play after these past two heartbreakers.
Mamadi Diane was supposed to the best player for the Cavs, but it just didn't turn out that way. He missed the entire summer with an injury, and he's still getting back into game shape. They've been forced to use some freshmen to fill the holes offensively and defensively, and the main one that's stood up is Sylven Landesburg, a freshman guard. He's averaging 17.3 ppg, which is outstanding for a freshman, especially because he wasn't a 5-star type guy. He excels at driving the lane and drawing fouls, but has some troubles when it comes to mid- and long-range shooting.
Landesburg is the main offensive threat for the Cavs, but it shouldn't be too hard to shut him down. Either Bowie or Vasquez should be up to the task - they're both quick enough to keep him in front, and savvy enough defensively to know when to play him loose and when to play him tight. He's dynamic enough that he'll get some points anyway, but if the Terps can keep him under 15 points, they've succeeded.
Another way Landesburg succeeds is by drawing fouls. The Terps are usually pretty good at avoiding fouls, so it shouldn't be a huge problem, but it may become a problem is Gary decides Bowie should defend him. Remember, Bowie fouled out the past two games, so he really doesn't need more encouragement to foul someone.
On the inside, the main player is Assane Sene, a 7 foot Senegalian (Senegalese?). He's a little raw, but has a lot of natural talent. He's a blocking machine, though, so the Terps may have some trouble inside. As if that's different from normal.
For those who care (and I'm sure there are many) Jeff Jones is yet to start a game this year. For me, that tastes just like sweet revenge. Mustapha Farrakhan (Louis' son) is also yet to start, but comes off the bench a decent amount and is a talented three point shooter.
There'll be more tomorrow in the game thread.