Maryland falls to No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 poll
The Maryland Terrapins (11-2) men's basketball team may have dropped from No. 13 to No. 15 in the latest AP poll, but do not expect them to fall in the rankings for much longer.
Mark Turgeon and the Terps had one of their best wins of the season against Bryant (8-5). Maryland was the more physical team, making it to the free throw line 32 times. They also out-rebounded the Bulldogs 48-16.
After all the pessimism that came with the departures of Makhi and Makhel Mitchell to the transfer portal, the highly-anticipated return of 7-foot-2 Chol Marial brought the Terps back to prominence.
The energy that Marial brought to his team was immediate, as Terps fans roared with excitement at the Xfinity Center on Sunday. His powerful dunks along with his tremendous play defensively has given Maryland the boost they needed that the Mitchell twins could not provide.
Marial is the big man the Terps have been missing this entire season. The team fed off his energy and the Terps cruised past the Bulldogs with ease. Anthony Cowan, Jalen Smith, Eric Ayala, and Darryl Morsell are some of the top college basketball players in the country. The addition of Marial makes all of them better.
Maryland hopes to build off their impressive win as they host Indiana on Saturday.
As for the other changes in the rankings, Gonzaga (13-1) remains the No. 1 team. Ohio State (11-2) falls to No. 5 as Duke (11-1) becomes the new No. 2. Kansas (10-2) and Oregon (11-2) are No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.
