Maryland turns it on in Raleigh; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Playing for the 3rd time in 5 days, the Maryland Terrapins struggled in the first-half tonight at North Carolina State. Facing a 10 point half-time deficit, the Terrpains responded with a blistering hot 2nd-half, to win 67-58 and improve to 18-7 overall, and 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Good:

1) Winning on the road in the ACC is never easy. The Terps could have easily packed in tonight once they got down at half-time. Instead, they regrouped and found a way to win. Some will complain that the game was not ‘pretty.’ All that matters is that the Terps will come back to College Park with the W.

1a) If you are going to come back in a game (and environment) like tonight, you need your leadership to step-up. Vasquez did that scoring 17 of his game-high 26 points in the 2nd-half.

2) Another part of the reason Maryland was able to come back tonight, was that their defense came alive; holding NCST without a Field Goal for over 9 minutes during that crucial 2nd-half. I guess you make the point that NCST was pretty inept on offense, but the Terps deserve credit for holding the Wolfpack to 35% shooting from the floor.

3) Jordan Williams started tonight by missing a few shots from close in, and not finishing plays where he was fouled. Coupling that with missing his first 2 foul-shots, and you wondered if this would be a ‘growing pains’, type of game for Williams. His effort never wavered, and Williams finished with 19 points (7 of 10 from the floor, 5 for 8 from the line), and 11 boards.

Williams is just having an outstanding Freshman season.

4) The Terps needed some players to step-up tonight, and Adrian Bowie did just that. After a pretty rough stretch for Bowie, I feel really good for him tonight. I am one that kind of cringes whenever Bowie takes a 3 point shot, but he made both of his attempts tonight. He deserves a pat on the back for being willing to take those shots, and another pat on the back for knocking them down. Overall, Bowie finished with 8 points, and 3 boards during his 18 minutes of play.

5) Mosley was off tonight (just 1 of 6 from the floor) but I thought he was more decisive looking for his shot, and for me; that was at-least some progress vs. the past couple of games.

6) Maryland finished the game with just 7 turnovers. Not a lot went right for the Terps tonight, but this is a positive they can point to. If you battle defensively, and you do not turn the ball over, you can stay in a lot of games – even when you are not playing your best.

The Bad:

1) I understand winning on the road is difficult. I understand it was the 3rd game in 5 days for the Terps. I do not understand the complete lack of production from Mosley, Hayes, and Milbourne.

I was happy that Mosley was looking for his shot a bit, and he did contribute with 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks; but you need more than 4 points.

Hayes had 5 assists, just 1 turnover, 2 steals, 4 rebounds; but zero points. That should never happen. If his outside shot (0 for 3 on 3 point attempts) is not falling, Hayes has to make it a priority to drive to the rim and force contact. He is shooting 92.5% from the FT line this year, and 88.5% from the line for his career. As a Senior, he simply has to be prepared to help in other ways if he is having an off night shooting from distance.

You can empathize with Milbourne having to play against bigger, stronger PF’s night-in, and night-out in the ACC. Sometimes, the combination of length, and strength of his opponents limits his offense. That said, 8 points on 11 shots is just not going to cut it. This is the 3rd time in 6 games Milbourne has been limited to under double-digit scoring.

Vasquez is going to get his basically every-game. These 3 have to find ways to give a minimum of 30 combined-points a night in assistance. Maryland will go home early in the ACC Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament, if these 3 have games where they again combine for 12 points.

2) Due to the recent scoring struggles of Mosley, and the positive play of Tucker off the bench; some Terrapin fans have suggested that Tucker should be starting. During the previous two games against Duke, and UVA – Tucker averaged 23 minutes, and 9.5 points a game. Tonight, Tucker was off. Playing just 9 minutes, he was held scoreless. Similar to the aforementioned starters, the Terps need to find consistency from Tucker down the stretch. You need to go into every-game, being able to count on what you are going to get from him in reserve.

3) 12 for 19 foul-shooting for this team is just not acceptable. You do not expect perfection at the line, especially on the road, but the Terps are leaving 3-4 points a game at the line most nights. This will comeback to hurt them against a better opponent.

4) Last year Gregory had at-least 4 rebounds in a game 15 times. So far this year, that has happened just 6 times. (Obviously have to factor in his 8 game suspension). Still, 9 of this 4+ rebounding efforts last-year came in ACC play. This year, Gregory has 3 ACC games of 4+ boards. Gregory is also averaging 3 minutes more per game this season. 19 minutes tonight, and just 2 rebounds. More than anything else, this has to be priority one for Gregory the remainder of this year.

The Ugly:

None. The Terps had a ‘ugly’ 1st-half of play, but turned-up the intensity and outscored the Wolfpack by 19 in the 2nd-half.

Maryland has won 10 of their past 13, and 8 of 10.

Up-Next:

The Terrapins return to College Park to face Georgia Tech (18-8 overall, 6-6 in the ACC) this Saturday.

Tech pounded North Carolina by 17 last night, and feature the very-athletic and capable front-line of Gani Lawal, and Derrick Favors. They are a team that has beat George Mason, Siena, USC, Charlotte, Clemson, Wake, and Duke. They have the capabilities of beating just about anyone, and will represent a challenge to the Terps.

Maryland will have had a couple of days off to prepare, and rest. The home-crowd should make a large difference in this one.

For the Terps, this game will represent the opportunity to real off 3 wins in a week from the tough road-loss at Duke.