The Maryland Terrapins went into the Maui Invitational with high hopes after three blowout wins to start the season, but much stiffer competition quickly brought them back down to Earth.
The Terps eventually cruised past Chaminade before an ugly shooting performance resulted in a loss to Cincinnati in the semifinals. It reminded me in some ways of the team's loss to the Memphis Tigers in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year.
Maryland then took on Wisconsin, and the result was much the same. The Terps were lit up by a barrage of three-pointers from the Badgers while struggling themselves from the outside.
Honestly, the loss to Cincinnati isn't the end of the world. The Terps now know that they will have real problems against teams that are bigger and more athletic than they are, especially when they don't shoot well. However, losing back-to-back games is tough to swallow, especially considering that the Terps are more athletic than Wisconsin and matched up pretty well with them. I can't imagine the flight home will be too pleasant.
If nothing else, this serves as a good wakeup call. Maryland knows that executing their offense, improving their three-point and free-throw shooting and not allowing offensive rebounds are things they can work on over the next month before ACC play begins.
There certainly isn't much time to feel sorry for themselves with a trip to Indiana for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge coming up early next week.
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