Explanation revealed to Maryland shaking up starting lineup against Michigan

Maryland men’s basketball interim coach Danny Manning shook up the starting lineup Tuesday against Michigan. Usual starting guards Fatts Russell and Hakim Hart were replaced by Ian Martinez and Xavier Green.

Maryland shakes up its starting lineup: Ian Martinez, Eric Ayala, Xavier Green, Donta Scott, Qudus Wahab

Usual starters Hakim Hart and Fatts Russell coming off the bench. So is Julian Reese, who started ahead of Wahab in the last game.

And Hunter Dickinson is back for Michigan.

— Emily Giambalvo (@EmilyGiam) January 19, 2022

For Martinez and Green, it was the their first start each in a Terrapins uniform. Initially there was no explanation to media ahead of the game.

However, during the ESPN broadcast, the announcer revealed Russell and Hart did not start due to “an internal matter,” per InsideMDSports’ Jeff Ermann.

The situation didn’t seem to intense. Both Russell and Hart checked into the game after the first media timeout.

Hakim Hart and Fatts Russell didn't start because of what was called "an internal matter." Must not have been too bad – both checked in after the first TV timeout.

— Jeff Ermann (@Jeff_Ermann) January 19, 2022

Russell and Hart previously started each of Maryland’s first 17 games. Russell is second on the team in scoring averaging 12.9 points and first with 4.1 assists. Hart is averaging 10.2 points per game, shooting 53.2% from the field.

Unfortunately, Russell and Hart weren’t able to prevent Maryland from digging a huge first half hole. Michigan took a 39-19 going into halftime.

We’ll see following the game if Manning will elaborate on the benching.