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Know thy Enemy: No. 19 Maryland looking to continue win streak

January 21, 2019
Junior guard Cassius Winston (5) drives to the net during the first half of the men's basketball game against Purdue on Jan. 8, 2018 at Breslin Center. The Spartans led the first half, 39-26.
Junior guard Cassius Winston (5) drives to the net during the first half of the men's basketball game against Purdue on Jan. 8, 2018 at Breslin Center. The Spartans led the first half, 39-26. —
Photo by Nic Antaya | The State News

Coming off a win against Nebraska, Michigan State looks to take on their next opponent No. 19 Maryland at the Breslin Center.  

The State News spoke with Adam Dreyfuss of The Diamondback, the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, to get insight into the matchup between the No. 6 Spartans and No. 19 Terrapins Monday night. 

Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for clarity.

Q: This Maryland team is rolling right now, winning seven in a row overall, including three road Big Ten wins. What’s the secret been?

A: I think the biggest change from this year to last year is depth. The team is really young, five of our rotation guys are freshmen. But last year, we were really thin due to injury, and this year having, we usually run eight guys in our rotation, just having those eight guys, being able to keep guys fresh, helps a lot. Also, we have more than one three-point shooter. Last year, Kevin Huerter was really our only source of perimeter shooting. And we have three guys (this season) that we can consistently rely on to hit threes.  It’s just a lot more talent, and a lot more depth spread out on the roster. 

Q: This seems a little different than the Mark Turgeon teams of the past — less hype, less five-star guys, but maybe more results so far. What factor has the eight-man rotation played?

A:  We have a bunch of guys, we have lots of freshmen and two of them were late additions, low three-star recruits who not many expected to play. They’ve come in, they’ve played their role … the players on the team are playing as a collective, but also Mark Turgeon knowing a bit better how to balance the team, he’s less reliant on the stars.

Q:  Who is the leader of this team? Anthony Cowan or Bruno Fernando?

A: I think it’s Cowan. The way he plays late in games is really indicative of his role. He gets off to slow starts every game, but in the second half he turns it on. In the game against Wisconsin, we collapsed, but he stepped up late and hit some big shots. I think Bruno is the most talented player on this team, and I think he will have the best pro career of anybody on this team, but I think Anthony Cowan is the true leader of this team, and I think everybody buys into him as the leader of this team. 

Q:  How does Maryland win this game?

A: Maryland needs to limit turnovers. That’s been the biggest problem in games that Maryland loses. We turn the ball over too much, and then we don’t shoot the lights out from three. The only reason we were able to beat Ohio State was that we shot 65 percent from three, but we had 20 turnovers. We need to play very clean, we need to not turn the ball over, but also we need to just play our gameplan. If we go down early, we can’t just start chucking up shots. That’s what we’ve done in the past, but this year, in games where we go down early, we’ve sort of slowly chipped back into it against Nebraska and Wisconsin. 

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