Marquette bounced by Maryland in Orlando Invitational Final

The Maryland Terrapins were too hot to handle and too cold to hold for the Marquette Golden Eagles Sunday. Anthony Cowan Jr., Aaron Wiggins and Darryl Morsell combined for 54 points, as the Terps defeated the Golden Eagles 84-63 to win the Orlando Invitational.

For a little while, Marquette hung in with Maryland at the start of the game. The teams were tied at 11 points apiece at the 13 minute mark after Markus Howard connected on a jumper.

But from there, Maryland took over. The Golden Eagles would not score again until the 8:06 mark in the first half.In that time period, Maryland scored 12 points off the back of 3-pointers from Morsell and Donta Scott, free throws from Scott and layups from Cowan and Hakim Hart. And from there on, Maryland outscored MU 31-10 to take a 42-21 lead into the break.

Marquette wouldn’t be able to scratch and claw too much the rest of the way. The Terps held a lead as big as 25 after the start of the second half. The Golden Eagles would only get to as close as 12 points at the 4:07 mark in the frame. Maryland would go full throttle all the way through, as they got the lead up to 21 points at the very end. It was an emphatic performance for one of the best teams in the nation, and for the Golden Eagles, it was perhaps a slap of reality as to where they stand right now.

That being said, let’s give it up to Brendan Bailey. Bailey had 27 points with six rebounds, an assist, two steals and no turnovers in 37 minutes of action. He shot 10-for-16 from the field and was a ridiculous 7-for-12 from 3-Point Land™. This was a career day for Bailey, and one that should certainly be recognized.

Sacar Anim was second in points with 21, and shot 9-for-14 from the floor, with a 6-for-10 mark inside. Howard, meanwhile, was pretty well bottled up. He shot 1-for-12 from the floor and scored just six points on the day. He committed four turnovers in 32 minutes, which will likely go down as his worst game yet and maybe the worst game he’ll play all season. No other MU player eclipsed more than six points, as Koby McEwen had five, Jayce Johnson scored three and Greg Elliott had one.

Maryland got 22 points out of their star in Anthony Cowan Jr. The senior guard went 7-for-14 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line, as he played a fantastic game from a shooting perspective. Cowan Jr. also had six rebounds, four assists and three steals, with just one turnover to speak of in 38 minutes of action. Darryl Morsell scored 17 points on a 7-for-14 mark from the floor, and added 10 boards to get him a double-double. Aaron Wiggins followed them all in double figures with 15 points and six boards, but committed four turnovers in 36 minutes.

Eric Ayala and Jalen Smith had nine and eight points respectively. Donta Scott scored seven points off the bench, and Makhi Mitchell scored four with six rebounds in 10 minutes of action. The aforementioned Hakim Hart, meanwhile, had just two points on the night in four minutes. The only player to not record a point for the Terps was Makhel Mitchell, who played eight minutes and had one defensive rebound.

We’ll next see Marquette on Wednesday, when they take on the Jacksonville Dolphins in Milwaukee. This will be the table setter for their matchup with the Kansas State Wildcats this coming Saturday in The Little Apple.