Maryland’s Darryl Morsell faces a test in UConn’s James Bouknight

When Darryl Morsell’s teammates walk into his bedroom, they can expect one of two channels to be playing on his TV: The Big Ten Network or Fox Sports 1.

“And the two conferences that’s on there is the Big East and the Big Ten,” Morsell said.

So Morsell knows all about UConn, the team Maryland will face Saturday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He’s seen what James Bouknight can do, the high-scoring Huskies guard who’s leading his team with 19 points a game — the one Morsell will be charged with slowing down when they both step onto the court at Mackey Arena.

Throughout the season, the Terrapins have developed a defensive-minded mentality, channeling Morsell’s lockdown attitude. And for the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, these are the kind of matchups he relishes.

“Bouknight’s the best offensive player for them. He’s terrific. Looks like an NBA player to me when I watch him play,” coach Mark Turgeon said. “But yeah, Darryl looks forward to that.”

Morsell is Maryland’s star of the defensive end, but he doesn’t do it alone. The Terrapins switch on screens, and if one player falters, the system breaks down. For much of the campaign, though, the system has proven sound.

Maryland has the 27th best adjusted defensive efficiency in the country, according to Ken Pomeroy’s analytics. Turgeon’s squad allows an average of 65 points per game, the second-fewest in the Big Ten.

Morsell plays a big role in that. According to Sports Reference, Morsell’s defensive win shares this season is 1.3 — an advanced statistic that estimates how many wins a player contributes through defensive performances. Over his career, Morsell has been worth five wins on defense.

“It’s who he is, it’s what he does,” guard Aaron Wiggins said. “He has a lot of pride in defense. And that’s just who he’s been, so he’s already prepared for any defensive task or assignment that he has, and he always steps up for that challenge because he’s always prepared for it. He’s just naturally doing every little thing on the defensive end to the best of his ability.”

Morsell has performed his best against some of the Big Ten’s best offensive players this year. When Maryland upset Illinois in January, guard Ayo Dosunmu still scored 23 points. But Morsell held him to 9-for-23 shooting — well below Dosunmu’s 49.1 field goal percentage this season. And after Minnesota’s Marcus Carr posted 25 points in the teams’ first meeting, Morsell held him to nine points in the second contest.

Performances such as those from Morsell fill Maryland with confidence heading into Saturday’s game against Bouknight and the Huskies.

“It’s just who he is every day,” guard Eric Ayala said. “He takes on that challenge, and he knows that’s what we need him to do as a team. He’s done that for us all year.”

Bouknight missed a month of the season between January and February with an elbow injury, but he returned to guide UConn to the second round of the Big East tournament. He struggled by his standards in the conference tournament loss to Creighton, posting 14 points but doing so on 4-for-14 shooting from the field.

But Bouknight has a wide range of abilities. He scored 40 points on Dec. 20 against Creighton, and he’s scored in single digits just once this season. Bouknight can hurt teams on the drive or from pull-ups in mid-range.

Turgeon said if Bouknight gets going, Morsell will have the task of locking in on him completely, going away from the switches Maryland’s defense tends to employ. Even so, defending Bouknight will be Morsell’s “primary matchup,” and it’s one the senior won’t shy away from.

“[Bouknight] presents a different skill set than we’ve probably faced in the Big Ten,” Ayala said. “Just his wide range of skills. But I definitely think we’re up to the challenge. It’s going to take a team, you know, and I definitely believe in our Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. I know he’s up for the challenge.”