All Tournaments are built around the premise of ‘survive and advance.’ With a 75-67 win over North Carolina State in the first-round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, the University of Maryland gets to live on for at-least another day.

The Good:

1) Maryland started the game with a 12-2 run to take immediate control. This included 3 points from Williams the old-fashioned way, and two jumpers from Hawk Palsson (who was inserted into the starting lineup).

2) Through hustle, Tucker got back as a trailing defender for a great block. Palsson got on the floor to save a possession for the Terps.

3) Williams had a couple of easy run-outs, both aided by looks down the court by Howard.

4) Padgett gave the Terps a 31-14 lead, with a basket in the post. He established strong positioning, missed the layup, but followed his own shot. Liked seeing the aggression and him calling for the ball. Really Padgett’s best game in some-time as he finished with 6 points, 7 boards, and a steal.

5) The Terrapin guards and wings did a good job of helping to crash the boards.

6) Stoglin has ended the half of many games with the ball in his hands, and had trouble creating for himself or his teammates. He did a spectacular job tonight with a drive and dish to Padgett.

7) 9 different Terps scored tonight, with each having at-least 5 points. Williams had his typical double-double, but this was a team effort.

8) Was good to see Mosley, Tucker, and Bowie contribute tonight. Mosley had 8 points, and 5 boards. Tucker had 9 points, 4 boards, and Bowie had 5 points, and 3 boards.

8a) The Terrapin lead was down to 7 with just over a minute to play, and the Wolfpack on offense. The block from Mosley on Wood’s shot was an important stop.

9) Maryland limited NCST to just 34% from the floor.

10) Clutch foul-shots from Howard and Stoglin to close out the game.

The Bad:

1) The initial Terrapin run to start the game was stagnated by Stoglin missing an easy lay-up. Several minutes later Stoglin stole a ball on an in-bounds pass and again missed an easy lay-up. At the 13 minute mark of 2nd half, Tucker also missed a layup and Gregory missed the follow. Maryland can not hope to beat Duke tomorrow if they leave such points on the floor.

2) After being up 31-14 (and starting to show-boat a bit) the Terps allowed NCST to go on a 13-4 run of their own. The Terps let their foot off the throat of the Wolfpack.

3) Rough game for Stoglin. 3 of 8 from the floor, 5 turnovers, and poor decision making late.

4) Maryland had a 15 point lead at the 5:10 mark, and Williams was out of the game with just over 4 minutes left. Obviously important to try and protect the legs when you are attempting to win multiple games in successive days. Him having to renter the game was a negative.

5) The Terps had 16 turnovers.

The Ugly:

None. After losing the last 3 games of their regular-season, the Terrapins can savior the fact they played with some pride and collective effort tonight.

Up-Next:

Maryland will get their 3rd crack at the Duke Blue Devils tomorrow night at 7pm.
Here are links to the recaps of the two previous meetings this year:

At Maryland: https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=2026
At Duke: https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=1868

Duke is a better team, and has the advantage of having gotten to rest and further scout the Terps tonight. The Blue Devils should certainly be expected to win. That said, Maryland showed in the loss at Duke, that on a given night this Terps team could play with them. On a neutral-court, who knows?

Stoglin had poor outings in both of the previous games vs. Duke. That can not happen again if Maryland is to pull the upset.

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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