Checking In With Maryland & Rutgers: This Time With Wins

It appears my "write a recap about a team/they lose games" powers are useless as both Maryland and Rutgers added a slash mark to their win columns this week. It was a good run being a wizard, but I've decided to retire and spend more time with my family and watching Archer on Netflix. Before I ride off into the sunset, let's recap what our future conference mates did this past week.

Maryland

Maryland was able to recover from a nine point halftime deficit to beat Notre Dame 74-66 last Wednesday to up their conference record to 3-2. Dez Wells recovered from a miserable, scoreless first half to pour in 17 points (11-13 from the charity stripe) while chipping in four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Seth Allen chipped in 14 points and Charles Mitchell had 10 points and seven rebounds (six offensive) in just 12 minutes of action. He also racked up four fouls, making him a real stat sheet stuffer! Since this post is a bit late, we can also talk about last night's game against NC State. The Wolfpack were without the ACC's leading scorer, TJ Warren, but were able to come back from a nine point halftime deficit and beat Maryland 65-56, in a reversal of fortune for the Terps. Evan Smotrycz (whose name I can spell without looking it up now!) and Wells lead the team with 10 points each, but the team shot a woeful 38.5% from the free throw line and could do nothing to stop NC State from going on runs in the second half. It is also worth mentioning that the hyper-efficient Mitchell had eight points and 18 GOD DAMN REBOUNDS (NINE ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS) in 28 minutes of action. Trying to check the 6'8" 260 lb sophomore out of Atlanta will be like guarding a Mack truck that can shoot boulders out its headlights for B1G front-courts next year. This brings Maryland's record to 11-8 and 3-3 in the ACC. A home game against #20 Pitt looms on Saturday and a chance to bag a statement win looms with it.

Rutgers

The Scarlet Knights went 1-1 last week, recording a 85-75 win over UCF and a 77-55 loss to Houston. This brings their record to 8-10 and 2-3 in the AAC. The week started off with multiple bangs, as the Knights held off the Knights of a different color (scarlet vs golden) and star guard Myles Mack scored his 1,000 point in a Rutgers uniform. Mack had eight assists and four rebounds to go along with the 25 points he registered, and it was enough to hold off a UCF rally in the second half. Junior Etou had 14 points and six boards and Jerome Seagears added 18 points and four assists off the bench. In their second game of the week, Rutgers used a 10-0 run to start the second half to take a one point lead on Houston, but the Cougars responded with an 11-0 run and ended the game on a 77-55 run (don't forget to tip your waitress!) to win by 20. Mack continued his strong season with 15 points and three assists while Kadeem Jack added 10 points (on an ugly 5-of-17 from the field) and nine rebounds. This was a game that Rutgers needed to win to solidify itself in the middle of the AAC pack. With the loss, they dropped to seventh in the conference. The Scarlet Knights continue their tour de Texas with a game at SMU tonight and return home to face UConn on Saturday.

In case anyone was wondering if this conference move was really happening, Rutgers football field begs to differ! IT'S HAPPENING PEOPLE!