The 16-7, 6-3 University of Maryland Terrapins host the 14-8, 5-4 Virginia Cavaliers tonight in College Park.

Calling this a ‘big’ game for the Terps, does not due the game justice. Two days after being bruised and beaten at Duke, it is important for Maryland to pick their-selves off the floor, and defend their home-floor.

UVA’s best wins this year have been against #24 UAB, #20 Georgia Tech, and #23 Miami.
First-year Cavs Head Coach Tony Bennett (formerly Washington State), has put his imprint on the team.

UVA ranks last in the ACC in Scoring Offense (68.9 points per game), and first in the ACC in Scoring Defense (61 ppg). This gives you a great indication of the ground-it-out affair the Terps and Cavs are likely to have tonight.

While UVA does not score a lot of points, it should be noted that the Cavs are 2nd in the ACC in Free-Throw %, and 4th in 3point FG %.

Only 3 Cavs players score in double-figures, G Sylven Landesberg, SG Sammy Zeglinski, and F Mike Scott. Landesberg, the defending ACC Freshman of the Year, is on the verge of an All-Conference season.

From the perspective of the Terps, to me you want to see the following:

1) Senior Leadership. Not a lot of time to prepare for Virginia tonight, so your experienced established players need to step-forward. It is important for Milbourne, and Hayes to join Vasquez tonight, and set the emotional tone for Maryland.

2) A return to basics. For this Maryland team to be successful, their blue-print is clear. They have to play defense, share the ball, attack the rim, crash the boards, and get to the foul-line.

2a) Now into the 2nd-half of ACC play, there has to be game-to-game improvement with the reserves Tucker, Gregory, Bowie, and Padgett. If the play of these four players can become more consistently good down the stretch, this is going to be a dangerous team in March.

3) Late in the William & Mary game, the Terps realized they were on the verge of losing to a mid-major. Their intensity was greatly ratcheted-up and they almost found a way to win. After that game, the Terps played stronger, and smarter against their following opponents. They played with the mindset of attacking the opposition. That is, until they played Duke. You have to give Duke some credit for this, but Maryland played on their heels. With 30 minutes gone in the game, Vasquez finally looked ticked-off, and started playing with some emotion. This team does not have the talent to just roll the ball out the floor, and expect to win. This team can not play with a defensive mind-set. They have to attack, attack, attack.

4) Starting tonight, and every-game going forward; Maryland has to commit to getting the ball inside to Williams. When the Terps establish Williams as a threat inside, it opens up the outside.

5) Despite shooting 38% from 3 point land (2nd in the ACC), Maryland still faces a lot of zone-defense. This is understandable to me. The Terps have a number of players that can hit some shots, but only Hayes is a player you would consider to be a strong shooter. When zoned, the Terps have to get dribble penetration. Normally this is Vasquez. I think Hayes has to join Vasquez, and continue to show an increasing willingness to drive to the rim.

6) Sean Mosley has had a very good Sophomore season. He is averaging 11.2 points, 5.5 boards, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals. He is shooting 56% from the floor, 41.7% from 3, and 75.3% from the foul-line. Still, I think he is capable of more, and more is needed. In his last 5 games, Mosley has scored a total of 31 points (6.2 per game). He does not have to be the guy that scored 26 points against Villanova, but he does need to consistently average 12 points a game or so the rest of the way, against his conference opposition.

Tonight is going to be a big barometer of what holds for the rest of the season. If the Terps play well and win, they will be well positioned to put the Duke game behind them, and have a strong-week.

If Maryland falters tonight, it will put a lot of pressure on the Terrapins shoulders to win on the road in Raleigh Wednesday night.

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