Believe it or not there is local sports sports action outside of the Ravens. Here is my game preview for the Terps vs Temple.

Maryland Terrapins (12-5, 2-2 ACC)
At
Temple Owls (12-5, 2-2 ACC)
Saturday, Jan. 21st 11 a.m. at The Palestera– Philadelphia PA
Leading scorers:
MD- Terrell Stoglin 21.2 ppg Temple- Ramon Moore 17.0ppg
Last games: MD lost to FSU, 84-70 Temple def LaSalle, 76-70

Outlook:

The Maryland Terrapins played a great 23 minutes Tuesday night against Florida St. The other 17 minutes were the exact opposite as the Terps were run out the gym and the state of Florida. As a reward, they get the ever popular 11 a.m. tip in a hostile environment against a great defensive team. The Palestra is one of the most historic and difficult venues in college basketball, which should bode well for a young, inexperienced visiting Terps team that is winless on the road. Temple was a preseason top 25 team that has beaten Duke, but also has lost some games they shouldn’t have and underachieved so far this season. The Owls have a balanced scoring attack, but their offense starts with guard Juan Fernandez, who is the team’s leader in assists. Fernandez can score but his bigger role will be to distribute the ball to the primary scorers Moore and Wyatt. The Terps will need to shut down those three if they want to win the game. I don’t see it happening.

.Temple is especially strong in defense and three point shooting, both of which are the Terps main weaknesses, which should make the Maryland coaching staff rest easy at night. Fear not, though– there are three areas where the Terps have the advantage: : they have the better former South American point guard, clearly  the more famous television alum than this T Temple alum, and they certainly don’t have a former coach that looks like the team mascot. . If only these things could help them on the court Saturday. Not to sound like a broken record, but this game will be determined by 1). the Terps’ ability to find scoring from players besides Stoglin; 2) their ability or inablilty to get rebounds and; 3). their three point defense, all of which will likely be poor and lead to the loss.
Prediction:
The only good thing that the Terps will bring home from their trip to Philly is a good cheesesteak from Geno’s, which unfortunately won’t help them get in the tournament. All the signs point to a Maryland loss, and I agree. I do think it will be similar to the Florida State game where the Terps hang around and have the lead for a little before eventually losing by double digits.

Temple 71, Maryland 58

Luckily whatever disappointment the Terps cause will be squashed by Ravens win the next day.

Bonus pick: Ravens 23, Pansies (I mean Patriots) 20!

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