After securing their tenth win of the season against USC Upstate, Maryland has jumped to No. 17 in the AP Poll, their highest ranking of the season. It’s an exciting time to be a Terps fan, and with six days until Maryland travels to face Oklahoma State, it is a good time for some reflection as well on Maryland’s strengths and weaknesses going forward. Let’s get to it.

Strength: The Guards

The guards for Maryland have been huge this season. This is especially surprising considering guard-forward hybrid Dez Wells has been standing on the sidelines in a sling due to a wrist injury. As their leading scorer last year, Wells played tremendously well this season (16 ppg, 5 rpg, 3 apg) before the injury, leaving a significant void that needed to be filled.

The freshmen guards have certainly filled that gap. Melo Trimble, Jared Nickens and Dion Wiley have all contributed immediately and tally 29.6 ppg combined which is 39 percent of the entire Maryland offense. As Maryland’s starting point guard, Trimble has been sensational, averaging 16 ppg, 4 rpg, and 3 apg. Senior transfer Richaud Pack has caught fire recently as well, averaging 15 ppg in his last five games and shooting 56 percent from the field.

The depth and breadth of Maryland’s guards may be the team’s signature strength that could carry them deep into March Madness. They are all offensively talented and have shown great chemistry playing together. Any locker room problems from last year appear to have left with the transfers, as this team seems focused and controlled, and all that starts with their guard play.

Weakness: The Bigs

While the guards have been a consistent benefactor for Maryland’s impressive play, the Terps have really just skated by in their interior offense and defense which could prove more troublesome in the near future. Maryland has no go-to big man to put in during crunch time with no power forward or center playing more than 20 mpg. Head coach Mark Turgeon has relied on a rotation between Damonte Dodd, Michal Cekovsky and Jon Graham so far this season.

While Dodd and Cekovsky both have shown promising potential, particularly Dodd’s improvements from last season, both have major liabilities that a big team can take advantage of. With only 37 rpg as a team, Maryland is 108th in the country.

When the Terps play other teams that lack a post game, Maryland has fared okay as it becomes primarily a guard competition. However, when No. 7 Virginia came to College Park, the 39th best overall rebounding team and 20th best defensive rebounding team in the country, the Cavaliers handed Maryland their first loss, primarily due to the bigs in my view. The Cavaliers outscored Maryland 36-20 in the paint and outrebounded Maryland 34-22. Virginia’s 6’11” big man Mike Tobey scored a season-high 14 points, getting whatever he wanted inside while the Dodd-Cekovsky-Graham rotation combined for a mere six points on one for four shooting. Even against USC Upstate, 6’11” Michael Buchanan had 13 points and 6 rebounds on only 19 minutes of playing time while Maryland’s big man trio combined for 10 points on 4-10 shooting.

A healthy Evan Smotrycz will help fix this problem, but only to a certain degree. Smotrycz can grab boards, averaging six per game last year, but at 6’9″ he isn’t going to give Maryland the big defensive presence the team desperately needs. It was refreshing to see him back on the court against USC Upstate, but it was also clear that it will take a while for him to get back into game form. The light at the end of the tunnel is that Dodd and Cekovsky are both brimming with potential, and if Turgeon can get that potential out of them this season, the interior can be solidified and maybe even a strength for Maryland. But until Dodd can show consistent competency on the offensive end, or Cekovsky simply learns to use his size and get more physical on the court, the Terps will continue to get beat by inside by better teams.

Games that pose a particular challenge to Maryland’s interior:

Oklahoma State (42nd overall, 19th defensive) The Jamaican native Anthony Allen Jr. is a 7-footer who, when combined with some other bigger Cowboys, may cause some difficulty for Cekovsky and Graham.

Ohio State (67th overall, 64th defensive) Senior Amir Williams is 6’11” and is shooting 73% from the field for 7 ppg. Add inn average of five brounds and two blocks, Williams is a force inside at 250 lbs.

Iowa (24th overall, 47th defensive) 4.3 blocks per game between Jarrod Uthoff and Gabriel Olaseni. Olaseni’s been offensively hot recently and if he is still hot when Maryland faces the Hawkeyes, that may very well cause problems.

Strength: Jake Layman

He’s been good enough to deserve an entire section for himself. While Layman was good last season, he’s taken another step in his game this year by playing great. In fact, his improvements year-to-year at Maryland are pretty significant, going from 6 to 12 to 15 points per game in his three years at College Park. He’s been a consistent force this year both offensively and defensively and stepping into more of a leadership role with the injuries to Wells and Smotrycz.

Best of all with Layman is that Terps fans have one more year with him if he does not declare early for the draft. With Robert Carter, Jr. becoming eligible to play next year, the future Terps team could feature Layman playing primarily the three instead of being forced to play bigger. A potential lineup of Trimble-Nickens-Layman-Carter-Dodd with Cekovsky and Wiley on the bench is nice, and that doesn’t even count any recruits Maryland may score.

Overall, a time for some rare Maryland basketball optimism

The 2014-15 men’s basketball team is no fluke top-25 program. Turgeon’s squad has the depth and talent to compete with the best and should easily finish in the top half of the Big Ten. A return to the NCAA Tournament has been elusive for Turgeon, and this year was seen by some as a do-or-die situation for him, but with how the team is playing right now Maryland fans should have confidence that this team is tournament-worthy.

However, this team will be challenged and doubts will be raised. I believe the interior weakness of the Terps against Oklahoma State and Ohio State especially. A healthy Smotrycz will be essential in spreading the floor for the offense and giving some necessary size as well. Even with their weaknesses, Maryland has enough offensive fire power and a good enough defense to compete with the best.