After three home games against mid-major schools, the real grind begins. The Terrapin men's basketball team is heading to Disney World during the Thanksgiving break, but it won't be a Mickey Mouse trip.
The Terps have No. 5 Michigan State on their plate for Thanksgiving, as the teams play at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 Thursday, in their first game as part of this year's Old Spice Classic at the Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
"I think this is the best field out there for tournaments this time of year," coach Gary Williams said. "We'll have to play well. At the same time, you want to see if you can play well at extended periods of time, and a team like Michigan State will make you do that."
On Friday, the Terps will play Gonzaga or Oklahoma State (whichever team has the same result as the Terps in their first game). After having Saturday off, they will finish their weekend Sunday against either Georgetown, Siena, Tennessee or Wichita State.
But for now, the Terps' eyes are dead-set on the Spartans and with good reason.
"They really offensive rebound well; they play very physical," Williams said of a typical Tom Izzo-coached team. "They're like a throwback Big East team, like when I was [coaching at Boston College] in the late '80's."
Michigan State, unlike many Big Ten teams, likes to run in transition and play quickly.
But last week when Michigan State played Indiana-Perdue Fort Wayne, the pace was plodding, putting the Spartans out of their element, and allowing IPFW to lead the game midway through the second half. Late in the game, Michigan State was able to run and they pulled out the victory because of it.
"They're very good in transition, they run, they have very quick guards, and they are not afraid to shoot it in transition," Williams said. "That's why they're ranked so high."
The Terps also like a fast pace, but the key for them will be rebounding - an area where they've struggled so far this year. Michigan State has the size and athleticism to crash the boards with just about any team in the nation, and as Maryland forward Dave Neal put it, "They rebound the heck out of the ball."
The Spartans leading scorer is Raymar Morgan, a 6-foot-8 junior power forward who will need to be slowed down if the Terps hope to win. But so far this season, Morgan's likely defender, forward Landon Milbourne, has struggled against opposing power forwards, fouling out of the last two games.
"I'm still trying to get used to playing inside; I just got to stay out of foul trouble," Milbourne said. "Just got to learn, watch some tapes, see what I did wrong and move on."
The Terps will be decided underdogs against Michigan State, but an emotional victory against Vermont last week will catapult them into tomorrow. Michigan State will have waited eight days in between games, and that layoff could possibly generate some rust before Thursday's game.
"They're beatable," Neal said. "They're a great team, they've got a great coach, but if we execute our plays, rebound and play strong, I think we've got a chance to beat them."
"I think we all know we can be very good," guard Eric Hayes said. "But the way we play this weekend will be a sign of how good we really can be."
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