The University of Maryland Terrapins improved to 5-0, beating #13 Iowa State in the Final of the CBE Hall-of-Fame Classic.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Quick Hits:

1) It was important for MD to leave this this two-day tournament with at-least one win. Getting wins over a Pac-12 team (Arizona State) last night, and beating an Iowa State team many expect to do damage in the Big 12 is huge. We have yet to reach Thanksgiving, and Maryland has added quality victories to their tournament resume.

2) Everything about winning tonight is enjoyable. One of the things to like in particular, is that MD beat the Cyclones with Dez Wells having a poor night. Wells was just 5 of 20 from the floor, finishing with 14 points. While he did contribute 9 rebounds, and 4 assists; he had 4 turnovers and questionable decision making down the stretch along with the poor shooting.

3) Big two nights these last two days for Cekovsky and Dodd. The duo has done enough these first 5 games to be really optimistic about MD overall. As the season was starting, it was known that MD looked pretty strong at guard and on the wings. It was could you get enough of a contribution on the interior to compete against quality teams? Cekovsky and Dodd are providing defense (not just blocked shots, but altered looks), getting put backs, and showing their athleticism. Last year MD could not defend the rim. Now they can. Together they combined for 8 points, 13 boards, and 3 blocks. Cekovsky had 8 rebounds himself, and gets kudos for his effort against Georges Niang. (Niang finished with 10 points, 4 of 14 from the floor.)

4) It’s also nice knowing that Smotrycz will be returning in the near-term, and adding further depth inside.

5) Graham got the start tonight, and helped the Terps get off to a positive start. It was a question of how MD would respond against a talented, experienced team (that had a large amount of their fans at the neutral floor). Graham being able to come-in, and get a couple of early scores definitely helped.

6) Layman had 15 points (4 of 8 overall, 2 of 4 from 3), and 6 boards. He also played hard on the defensive end.

7) Off-the-bench, MD got a huge lift tonight from Jared Nickens. Nickens finished with 15 points (6 of 10 overall, 3 of 7 from 3). He’s going to hunt his shot when he’s on the floor. We saw a couple of shots inside the line which were nice. He’s going to put up a lot of points during his time with the Terps.

8) As the poster ‘Mackus’ pointed out in the game thread at BSL, another good aspect of these two games is that outside of Trimble’s scoring vs. Arizona State, nothing occurred which figures to be much different vs. the normal production these players should regularly provide. Tonight, Trimble had 11 points (4 of 8 overall), with 3 steals, and 3 assists.

9) MD won the battle of the boards 36-33.

10) The Terps finished the night 26 of 59 (44%) from the floor, 8 of 19 (42%) from 3. They were 12 of 15 at the foul line.

11) Wiley’s time was limited tonight, just 4 minutes overall. He knocked down a 3 on his only shot.

12) The only Terp who probably did not enjoy his CBE HOF Classic experience was Pack. After finishing 0 for 6 last night, he was 0 for 3 tonight.

13) Now Champions of the CBE HOF Classic, MD returns to College Park for home games Friday (Monmouth) and Sunday (VMI) before also hosting former Atlantic Coast Conference foe #8 Virginia in the Big Ten / ACC Challenge next Wednesday.

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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