It was not pretty, but the University of Maryland did just enough to beat the Golden Panthers of Florida International. The Sun Belt Conference team was up by as much as 11, but ultimately the Terps were able to scratch and claw enough to beat the Isiah Thomas coached squad 65-61.

The Terps move to 6-3 overall, and now can look forward to the return of their PG Pe’Shon Howard for their next game (12/23 vs. Radford), and their prized Freshman big man Alex Len in the game after that (12/28 vs. Albany).

The Good:

1) Pankey tipped in Maryland’s first basket of the game, just by being active on the glass. After two misses at the line from Parker, Pankey followed with a strong board and basket to close the deficit to 5 at 43-38. You get him the ball in the post, and he fights to get to the rim. Two crucial blocks on the same possession with under a minute left. He then went to the line and hit his shots. Pankey finished with 13 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals.

2) Mosely had an early block, getting down the court and refusing to give up on the play. Following his own miss in the 2nd half, he hustled back and got another block. Mosley made a nice backdoor cut, and Faust was able to find him. The Sr. guard hit the short jumper, was fouled and got to the line. Mosley finished with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

3) Faust gave the Terps the early 4-3 lead, pushing the ball down the court and scoring in transition. He hit two crucial foul shots in the last 30 seconds. After missing 2 foul shots with under 10 seconds, he got the in-bounds to close out the game. The Freshman finished with 9 points, 3 boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists.

4) Nice play from Stoglin, penetrating along the baseline and finding Mosley for an open 3. Putting MD up 11-9, Stoglin had another good look down low to Weijs. His shot was not falling early (started 0 for 4), but he was looking to go to the rim, and find his teammates. With MD down 11 points, Stoglin hit 4 of 5 foul shots to stop the bleeding and get the Terps back into the game before the half. He came out firing in the 2nd half, hitting an early 3. With just under 2 and a half minutes left, Stoglin would put MD up by 4. Stoglin finished with 20 points, including 11 of 13 from the foul line.

5) Weijs was working hard, and going after boards. His little half-hook he uses is effective. When he keeps the ball high, he does have decent touch around the basket. Big defensive rebound, with the Terps up 54-52. Weijs had 4 points, 6 boards, and a block.

6) Padgett followed a Mosley miss to put MD up 17-14. The Jr. big was not given much of a chance to score tonight (just 4 shots), but he had 7 boards including 5 on the offensive glass.

7) With Stoglin out of the game due to foul trouble, Parker was able to find Pankey underneath. This was a needed basket, which closed the game to 46-42. He followed that with an aggressive drive and finish. The Sophomore came flying out of now where to corral a defensive rebound with the Terps up two at 54-52 with just over 3 minutes remaining. He finished with 4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a steal.

8) The Terps won on the boards, 31-26.

9) Some good foul shooting down the stretch, had MD finish 22 of 32 at the line.

The Bad:

1) In the first 4 minutes, Stoglin had two quick turnovers. On one he had his pocket picked, and on other he attempted to force a pass to Weijs. Just under the 13 minute mark, the Terps had stolen the ball and had a fast-break. Stoglin was looking for contact and blew the layup. He needed to go up stronger. Stoglin would pick up his 4th foul with 13 minutes and change remaining in the 2nd half. He would be held out for the next 6 minutes.

2) Maryland went into the under 12 minute timeout, down 9-8. When you play a team like FIU, I am always apprehensive that if you do not put them away early, you might find yourself in a game late. With the Golden Panthers starting just 3 of 13 from the floor, the Terps wasted an early opportunity to grab control of the game.

3) Coming out of that 12 minute timeout, Faust turned the ball over in the back-court. I’m sure Faust is looking forward to Howard getting back as much as anyone. He hit two crucial foul shots with 30 seconds left, but missed his last two attempts.

4) After the timeout at the 6:30 mark of the 1st half, the Terps lost Jeremy Allen off a screen, and Allen hit a 3 to tie the game at 19.

5) With MD down 52-50, with under 7 minutes left, I disliked Thomas being asked to take a shot that mattered.

6) Maryland was just 1 of 10 from 3 point land.

7) After scoring in double figures the previous 4 games, Padgett had just 2 points.

The Ugly:

1) Right before the 2 minute mark of the 1st half, Padgett just gave the ball to Florida International. The Golden Panthers would race down the court to score, to take the 31-23 lead and force the Terps into a timeout. Seconds later FIU would hit a 3, capping a 18-4 run. MD failed to score a FG in the last 4:12 of the half.

2) It is hard to intimidate a team like FIU, when your imposing arena is roughly 40% full.

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.

X