After having their game against Maryland rescheduled due to the recent blizzard, the University of Virginia arrived at College Park today, allowed the least points per game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terps responded to that challenge by putting up an absurd 52 first-half points, on the way to a 19 point win over the Cavaliers.

With the win, Maryland improved to 17-7 overall, and 7-3 in the ACC.

The Good:

1) Playing two days after an emotional loss, with minimal preparation for Virginia, was always going to come down the leadership displayed by Maryland’s Seniors. Vasquez took control of this game early, powering his way to 25 first-half points. Overall, Vasquez finished with 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a 1 steal. His performance tonight was the definition of leadership.

2) Maryland dominated the boards, winning 42 to 28.

3) The Terps made an absurd 56% of their shots, aided by the fact they only took 8 three-point attempts.

4) 22 assists for Maryland tonight, led by Eric Hayes who had 9. Gary Williams spoke in the post-game about the Terps not sharing the ball effectively enough Saturday, so it was good to see this as a point of emphasis tonight.

5) Vasquez and Milbourne both played over 30 minutes, but the rout allowed for a lot of players to get time tonight. Hopefully this will have helped keep the players legs fresh for Wednesday night in Raleigh.

6) Jordan Williams had 11 points, 11 boards, and a steal.

7) As he has several times this season, Gary Williams singled out Cliff Tucker for his athleticism, and defensive capabilities. Williams stated that Tucker provided strong defense tonight on the very talented Landesberg. Tucker finished the game with 7 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Exactly the type of line you need from him in reserve. I also liked that Tucker dunked a breakaway opportunity tonight, instead of laying it in at the rim.

8) Gregory and Padgett combined for 27 minutes, 11 points, 3 boards, and a steal tonight. Gregory made his 2 FG attempts, and hit all 3 of his foul-shots. It was good minutes for both tonight, and that should help Williams Wednesday.

The Bad:

1) The blow-out tonight not withstanding, this team has to have the mind-set of getting to the line more than 15 times in a game. Secondly, Williams and Padgett could stand to spend some additional practice-time working at the charity stripe.

2) Mosley played 22 minutes tonight, and had 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He got in foul-trouble early (finished with 4 fouls) and never got into the flow of the game. Mosley finishing with zero points and 3 shots is just puzzling to me. He is a tremendous team player, who seems to me is again dealing with confidence issues. When the rout was on, it seemed like the perfect time to get Mosley some looks and try and let him find his shot. There is no reason for Levent, and Pearman to combine for the same amount of shots, and more points, in the 4 minutes of action they received, vs. the offensive production of Mosley.

There are two more games this week, and it should be a priority for Maryland to get Mosley going.

3) Tucker, Gregory, and Padgett all helped off the bench, and can take something away from tonight. Bowie had another rough night. Similar to Mosley, I believe you are seeing a player whose confidence has been shaken. I think it would do Bowie well to review some highlights of his own play, and speak to the Coaches about how he can best help this team the rest of this year.

I really believe that if Bowie was starting (and playing an equal 20 minutes with Hayes) that he would look much better. The problem for Bowie, is that Maryland is a better team this year with Hayes in the starting lineup. It is up to Bowie to show enough as a reserve, to force Gary Williams to give him more minutes. Unfortunately, it appears the reduction in minutes has hurt his confidence, and is effecting his production. It is a chicken and egg type of argument. I believe Bowie will play much better as a Senior, competing for minutes with the incoming Freshman Stoglin, and Howard for minutes. However, this 2009-10 team, needs Bowie to improve his play now for the Terps to be as good as they can be.

The Ugly:

None. For the 5th time this season, the Terps beat a fellow conference opponent by at-least 16 points.

Up-Next:

One of the ACC teams Maryland beat by over 16 points this year, was NCST in a 24 point thrashing at College Park. On Wednesday night, the Wolfpack will get to host the Terps in Raleigh for a rematch.

With the Terps leaving for NCST tomorrow afternoon, there will be no preparation for this game. The team will need to rely on the scouting from the previous match-up, and again the Senior leadership will need to step-up. NCST is a very hostile environment for the Terrapins, and especially Vasquez. While Vasquez often plays well in games of emotion, I do not want to see a 1×5 type of game that feeds to their crowd.

The Wolfpack was just 6 of 20 from 3 point-land at Maryland, and I would go into the game tomorrow assuming they will shoot better at-home.

The Terps should come out attacking, and trying to get NCST running. In the previous game, Maryland only had 9 turnovers, and to the foul-line 33 times. If that happens again, the Terps will win big again.

Since beating Duke at-home on January 20th, NCST has lost 6 consecutive league games. Their losing streak stands at 4 overall, as the beat NC Central out of conference on January 30th.

There is no excuse losing to NCST Wednesday night, but I could see NCST being a desperate team that puts up a fight. The fact that they beat Duke at home, won at Auburn, won at Marquette, lost by 2 at Arizona, and lost by 1 to Florida shows NCST has some talent. For whatever reason, the wheels have totally come off the bus. At-home, they should be motivated to atone for the beating Maryland gave them at College Park. If the Terps do not put them away early, it could become a dangerous game.

My guess is that the Terps feed off of tonight, and go to Raleigh and lay the wood to the Wolfpack again.

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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