Playing their first game after the Pe’Shon Howard’s ACL injury, the University of Maryland dropped a 73-55 decision in Durham against the Duke Blue Devils.

With the loss, MD is now 14-10 overall, and 4-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Playing without Howard, I was concerned about the Terps ability to get their offense set-up. While the Terps did clearly miss their Sophomore guard at times, I was pleasantly surprised that MD only turned the ball over 13 times. The main positive takeaways from today were the offensive contributions of Faust, and Parker.

The Good:

1) Mosley had a nice strip on Mason Plumlee in the opening minutes. For the game, Mosley finished with 4 steals.

2) The Terps got on the board first, with Pankey hitting a jumper from 17 feet out. If he is going to shoot that far from the basket, he needs to hit his share. Down 21-20, the gave MD an additional shot, with a nice tap out.

3) As he done all year, Stoglin found a way to get to the line. With just over 3 minutes gone by, Stoglin had 3 points from the charity stripe after being fouled on a jumper.

4) MD got out on a fast-break, when Mosley came up with a steal and found a streaking Parker for an emphatic dunk. Parker’s 2nd basket came on a reverse, and another look from Mosley. Attacking the basket from outside the arc, Parker converted a layup and got to the line. This pulled MD back within 5 (39-34).  Parker finished with 12 points, converting all 6 of his foul shots.

5) 7 minutes into the game, MD had limited Duke to 6 points. Even more impressive, the Terps had only turned the ball over twice. As mentioned above, the Terps turned it over 13 times overall, which I consider a win.

6) Faust had a nice block on Dawkins. After turning it over on a previous drive and dish to Padgett, Faust delivered a much better look with about 2 and 1/2 minutes remaining in the 1st half. The Baltimore Freshman put the Terps up 29-27, this time finishing a drive on his own. He was doing a good job of getting past his defender and getting to the basket. Faust got MD on the board in the 2nd half, with an athletic layup following a timeout. Duke had gone up 13, when Faust started to bring MD back. He got to the basket again for another basket, found Mosley on a fast-break with a good decision, on a steal he pushed the ball up the court to Parker (who was fouled), and he got the Terps back to within 4 when he buried MD’s first 3 of the game. Faust finished with 15 points, 8 boards, and a steal.

7) Len’s first basket came in the middle of the 2nd half, when he got positioning, and went up. Len and Weijs combined for 10 boards.

The Bad:

1) Len picked up 2 fouls in the first 5 minutes of play and was forced to the bench, not returning until under the 8 minute mark. He picked up his 4th foul with over 9 minutes remaining in the 2nd half. MD needed him on the court against Duke’s interior players, and that foul trouble made the Terps short bench, even shorter.
1a) Len was charged with a lane violation on a Parker FT. He would be charged with a 2nd lane violation later, with Len Elmore saying he made the mistake of having his arms down.

2) At the 10 minute mark of the 1st half, Faust had a nice drive, but a lazy dish to Padgett prevented a basket. On the next possession, he turned the ball over again. With 2 minutes remaining in the 1st, Faust got into the lane, and threw up an ugly brick with just no touch shown. Down 5 points (39-34), Faust forced a quick 3. With the success he was having getting past defenders, I did not want to see him settle for a jumper.

3) MD was down 1 (30-29) with under a minute to play in the 1st half, when Pankey missed two FT’s. The last Terps possession of the half ended in a Mosley air-ball.

4) Duke had 11 offensive rebounds in the 1st half, and finished with 20 overall.

5) The Terps were 0 for 6 from 3 point land in the 1st half, and finished 1 of 13 beyond the arc.

6) Despite starting Weijs, and Len to begin the 2nd half, Mason Plumlee got great positioning and threw down a monster dunk 10 seconds into the last 20 minutes. Two minutes into the half, Duke had extended their lead to 9.

7) Down 10 (46-36), MD failed to box-out on a FT miss from Mason Plumlee. Duke would not convert the extra possession, but they should not have had the opportunity.

8) After getting trapped and turning the ball over under the Duke basket, Padgett came back a couple possessions later and got better position. As he went to the basket, he was fouled, and went to the line – but he missed both shots. Hard to pull upsets, or come back in games when you miss such chances.

9) The Terps had fallen behind by 13 points, when they answered with a 9-2 run, and had the ball. Stoglin turned the ball over as he was trying to run the offense, and was double-teamed. A perfect example of a play where Howard was missed.

10) Like Faust, Parker had a bit of a coming out party offensively against ACC competition. The negative in Parker’s game today  was that he provided zero rebounding, something he has done well on a per minute basis this year.

The Ugly:

1) I understand Stoglin was hunting for his shot, but Stoglin’s missed 3 point attempt with the Terps down 7 (41-34) was a horrible decision. He was 0 for 4 from 3 prior to that, and he shot from 5 feet behind the line. Duke got the rebound, raced down the court, and went up 10.

1a) Duke’s defense was understandably geared towards stopping Stoglin. With the aided pressure of trying to facilitate the MD offense, Stoglin at times looked drained. For the game, Stoglin finished 0 for 5 from 3, and just 4 of 16 from the floor.

2) Padgett and Pankey were again overwhelmed by Duke’s height. The two were a combined 1 of 5 from the floor, 2 of 8 from the foul line, with 6 boards.

3) Giving up a lot of size, Mosley was working very hard on the defensive end. You still needed more offense from him. For the game, Mosley was 2 of 9 from the floor, 0 for 5 from 3, 1 for 1 from the line.

4) Overall, Duke won on the boards 47-32.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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