The University of Maryland Terrapins gained their 1st win of the year, beating Morehead State Eagles 67-45 in College Park.

While the game was never in doubt, and the win was expected; the Terps can feel good about a number of positive things they accomplished tonight.

The Good:

1) Padgett scored on MD’s opening possession, getting good position in the post. Off a nice pass from Wells, Padgett got his 2nd basket. Padgett had a good follow on a Len miss in the 2nd half. He would score the next time down as well, putting MD back up 15 at 50-35.
Padgett had 9 points, 3 boards, and a steal.

2) Making up for a bad pass which led to a turnover, Len had a block as Morehead St. attempted to challenge him at the rim. Scraping for the ball at the top of the key, Len came up with the loose ball, and found Faust down low for 2. Maryland went up 18-9, when Len just turned and dropped in a 1/2 hook over top the Morehead defender. He comfortably knocked down 2 foul shots, making it a 24-13 game. He delivered another high-low pass to Faust. Early in the 2nd half, he had his 3rd good pass of the game, finding Padgett.  Len went into double figures scoring, keeping his defender on his back, and scoring close in with a layup. That score made it 46-34 Terps, with about 13 minutes left. Len was blocking shots, and altering shots nearly every time with regularity. Len had 11 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks.

3) Faust got on the board with 2 points in the post. Fouled on the play, he converted  at the line. Two more foul shots pushed the lead to 9 at 20-11. With another good back-cut, Faust scored on another high-low pass from Len. Faust had an athletic layup early in the 2nd, followed by a 3 pointer shortly thereafter. Faust had 12 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals.

4) Mitchell, and Allen entered the game very early which we liked. We also liked the mass substitutions through out, and the ‘2nd team’ with the four Freshman, and Aronhalt.

5) Layman buried his first look from the wing, putting the Terps up 9-3. The bounce in his step is apparent. He hustles back on defense, and goes looking for the ball. At 26-13, Layman skied high for a defensive board. Layman picked up his 2nd foul with less than 2 minutes left int he 1st half. Layman knocked down another 3 in the 2nd half. Showing nice shooting touch, Layman came off a curl and hit a long two. Layman had 7 points and 2 assists.

6) Pretty much immediately upon entering the game, Mitchell had an impressive offensive board. Mitchell got on the board, following up a wild miss from Layman. After 10 boards in the opener, he had 9 more tonight.

7) Allen’s first points came on a drive as the shot clock ticked down. Using glass, Allen showed his ability to create on a layup with about 15 minutes left in the 2nd half. After turning it over on the previous trip, Allen came away with a steal and a breakaway for 52-35 MD lead. Allen had 6 points.

8) Aronhalt got a block in the middle of the 1st half, simply by holding position. In the  the 2nd half, Aronhalt got on the floor for a loose ball, which led to a Padgett score. Aronhalt knocked down his first MD 3 pointer in the middle of the 2nd, pushing the led to 20. Aronhalt had the 3 points, and 3 boards.

9) Great pass from Wells to Padgett for a basket. Wells had one for the highlight reel, with Howard finding Wells for the alley-oop.Going baseline, Wells exploded for his 2nd basket. Wells had a steal late in the 1st half which led to a fast break. Wells came off a screen and buried a 3, putting the Terps up 21 at 58-37. As Morehead State went back down the court, Wells forced Drew Kelly into an offensive foul. Wells had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and 1 steal.

10) The alley-oop to Wells, was a perfect feed from Howard. Howard got an assist on another alley-oop (this one closer in) to Len in the 2nd half. Good penetration into the lane from Howard on the play. Followed up with good defense on the next series. Great pass from Howard to Cleare underneath for a 2nd half layup. Howard set Layman up for a good look from 3 with about 6 minutes left. Howard had 7 assists.

11) With under 7 minutes left in the 1st, the Terps forced Morehead State into a shot-clock violation with good team defense. Overall, Morehead had just 19 points in the 1st half, being held to 28% from the floor.

12) Cleare got on the board late in the 1st half, securing position, and earning a trip to the line. Cleare had a good offensive board on a Wells miss, and again went to the line. With under 15 minutes left in the 2nd, Shaq swatted a Morehead State shot into the stands. Cleare’s first FG of the game, came with him going to the basket, and Howard finding him in stride. Running hard down the floor, Cleare got a 2nd block. With 2 minutes left, Cleare earned his 3rd block, and you could tell he was intimidating Morehead. Cleare finished with 8 points, 5 boards, and the 3 blocks. He was 6 of 8 from the line.

13) Maryland got to the line 22 times in the 1st half, directly helping them open up the 35-19 half time lead. They finished with 29 foul shots.

14) The Terps had 6 players with at-least 7 points. Maryland won on the boards 40-32.

The Bad:

1) After scoring on MD’s first possession, the Terps went back to Padgett the next time down the floor, but he picked up an offensive foul.

2) Len had a poor pass in the opening minutes which was easily picked off. Len picked up a foul on Holmes, that Holmes finished early in the 2nd. It probably was not necessary for him to leave his feet.

3) With under 14 minutes left in the 1st half, Layman attacked the rim which we liked – but picked up a charging call. He needed to pull up. Layman was charged with a turnover, when he was unable to finish a fast break late in the 1st. I never saw a replay, and did not determine if that was more on Layman or Allen. Layman had 3 turnovers.

4) Getting out on the fast break, Mitchell had an opportunity to throw down a slam, but was unable to finish. He had a turnover in the 2nd half.

5) It did result in a turnover (as it became a jump ball situation, and stayed MD ball), but at around the 13 minute mark, Cleare brought the ball down and risked being stripped.

6) Allen picked up MD’s 3rd offensive foul of the 1st half. Playing a bit of point, Allen was guilty of over dribbling several times. The Terps were up 50-35, when Allen turned the ball over against a double team. Allen had 4 turnovers.

7) Upon entering the game, Aronhalt put up a couple of quick shots from 3, and missed them both.

8) Maryland turned it over with a sloppy in-bounds pass, which allowed Morehead State to get an easy basket. This cut the Terps lead to 6 at 13-7.

9) Morehead’s Chavis earned his first basket, blowing past Howard that top the key, and drawing contact from Len.

10) Morehead scored on their first look of the 2nd half, and their extended pressure rattled the Terps on the in-bounds.

11) Wells blew a 2nd half dunk in the opening minute. At the 18 minute mark, he missed an open 3. With 13+ on the clock, Wells had a lazy turnover.

12) Maryland was just 17 of 29 from the foul line.

The Ugly:

1) Similar to the end of the opener vs. Kentucky, Maryland was not able to get off a shot as the 1st half ended tonight. The Terps looked unsure of who they wanted to touch the ball and get a look.

2) Up 16 at the half, Maryland was up just 12 points 5 minutes into the 2nd. Things worked out fine, but you wanted to see the Terps come out of the locker-room and immediately put the game away.

3) Maryland had 20 turnovers against just 14 assists.

4) A lot of empty seats for the home opener, even with the understanding it was Morehead State.

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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