Dave Preston is an AP Top 25 voter. Read his ballots here.
After dealing with the recent winter weather in D.C., a 40-degree day almost merits celebration. Similarly, when you’re mired in last place, anything that’s not a double-digit drubbing is greeted with open arms.
Maryland (10-14, 3-10 Big Ten) isn’t hanging a banner at Xfinity Center, but the Terps are starting to make progress by posting consecutive conference wins for the first time all season. They rallied late Sunday at Minnesota behind the hot shooting of Diggy Coit, and Wednesday they survived a game with 10 ties and 10 lead changes to prevail 77-70 over NCAA Tournament hopeful Iowa.
The Terps held one of the top shooting teams in the Big Ten to 6-19 from the field over the last nine minutes. And while doing so, they also outrebounded the Hawkeyes 34-25.
“Tonight, it was about limiting them to one shot,” senior center Collin Metcalf said after posting a season-high eight boards. “If you don’t win the rebounding war, you lose. Buzz is always emphasizing, ‘We got to rebound, because rebounding wins.'”
The Terrapins entered their midweek matchup ranking 15th in the conference in rebounding margin.
“After Purdue, the one thing that we wanted to try to accomplish was do a better job on the glass — on the offensive rebounds, a better job on the defensive rebounds, because we were so deficient in both. I think that’s been present in both of the last two games.”
They won the battle of the boards against Minnesota as well, and executed for the full 40 minutes for the second straight game.
“We just kept on fighting, kept playing, kept digging in, kept trying to get stops, kept trying to get good shots on offense,” Darius Adams said. “It was good to see. … We need more of that and it’s working out for us.”
One nice byproduct of these two wins is Maryland is now out of the Big Ten cellar and, at 14th place, is on track to avoid the infamous opening round (not to be confused with the “dreaded first round”). The Terps lead the trio of Penn State, Rutgers and Northwestern by one game. They visit the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, and the RAC (even under a corporate name) remains a tough place to play.
Starting five
Up top: I had No. 1 Arizona atop my ballot again this week, and the Wildcats’ rough road continues after their Monday night loss at No. 9 Kansas, with five games against ranked foes over the next three weeks. Michigan was the unanimous No. 2 this past week, while six teams received third place votes (I had Houston followed by Iowa State and UConn in my top five).
Biggest variations: I had No. 16 Texas Tech 21st on my ballot and voted unranked NC State No. 16. Toughest omissions: BYU, Louisville, Santa Clara and Villanova. Small school shout-outs: Saint Louis, Miami (Ohio) and Utah State.
Going inside: Georgetown (13-11, 5-8 Big East) was riding its longest regular season conference winning streak since 2015 when the Hoyas went toe to toe with Villanova last Saturday, and after leading by three at the half, they then shot 32% and had almost as many turnovers (nine) as they had baskets.
“Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. We gave them 23 points off our turnovers,” coach Ed Cooley said after the team’s fifth single-digit Big East defeat. “Young men have to understand little things add up over the course of the game. Little, little things. Just falling on the floor, coming out of a timeout and throwing the thing out of bounds, jumping in the air, not playing off two feet. That’s what drives coaches crazy.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Cooley and company, who visit No. 6 UConn on Saturday night, less than a month removed from coming within a basket of beating the Huskies in D.C.
Perimeter pass: No. 14 Virginia (21-3, 10-2 ACC) stayed on track for a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament by rallying on the road against Florida State, holding the Seminoles without a basket for the final 6:30 of regulation and scoreless for the last 4:54 in a 61-58 win in Tallahassee.
Belgian center Thijs De Ridder has sustained a strong start, averaging 17 points with seven rebounds while shooting 52% as a freshman. We’ve already seen the Cavaliers shrink on the big stage, coughing up a 16-point lead in a home loss to North Carolina. How well will they fare against fellow NCAA contenders Miami, NC State and Duke between now and the end of the month?
Who’s open: Navy (20-6, 12-1 Patriot League) avenged its only conference loss of the season last weekend when the Midshipmen beat American (13-13, 6-7). The Mids then dominated Bucknell on Monday night for their eighth straight win and are one win away from wrapping up home court advantage through the conference tournament (Patriot League holds its postseason tourney on campus sites).
The Mids meet second place Colgate on Saturday for the first time this winter (Navy hosts the Raiders to wrap up the regular season Feb. 28). Meanwhile the Eagles have lost six in a row to fall from contender to pretender, just one game ahead of seventh place Bucknell (and the dreaded first round).
Last shot: The night before Valentine’s Day, George Mason (21-4, 9-3 Atlantic 10) visits George Washington (14-11, 5-7) in Foggy Bottom. The rematch comes less than one month after Mason rallied past the Revolutionaries 69-64 in Fairfax thanks to a 9-2 finishing kick sparked by a Jahari Long 3-pointer with 1:56 left.
Since that day, GW has dropped four of six, with three of those losses coming by one possession. And Rafael Castro remains on the shelf with injury. The Patriots, after a program-best 18-1 start, have lost three of six, including Tuesday’s 82-70 loss at Richmond where they started the night by shooting 3-17 from the field with three turnovers. This should be a good one.
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