Coach Mark Turgeon won his first game as Head Coach of the University of Maryland, as the Terrapins opened their 2011-12 season with a 71-62 victory over UNC-Wilmington.

The Good:

1) Faust did a couple of things you really have to like seeing from a Freshman in his first College game. He showed an ability to play the passing lanes, and disrupt with his long arms. He was also willing to attack the glass, and go after the ball. His first FG came on a drive to the rim from the baseline. Faust finished with 7 points, 6 boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Late in the 2nd half, he was being used as the defensive stopper on Wilmington’s best offensive player.

2) Pankey was active on the boards, and did a good job getting put back points when available. He also showed good touch at the foul-line, and hit a face-up 15 footer. With just under 9 minutes left, the Terps were up by 8. Pankey backed his defender down low, finished and got to the line. Pankey has no problem finishing around the rim when he gets position. Pankey finished with 13 points, 8 boards, and a block.

3) With the Terps up 19-15, Padgett made a great move on the baseline for two. Like Pankey, he was active underneath the basket. He gave MD their first two scores of the 2nd half with a strong put back, and an up and under. Padgett finished with 12 points, and 7 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, and a steal.

4) At 21-15 Maryland, Parker had a great hustle play hitting the floor and getting the ball to Stoglin for the transition basket. In the 2nd half, Parker got his first FG going to the rim and getting a shot off after contact. Later Mosley delivered a pass to the rim, which Parker threw down. Parker finished with 5 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

5) Making up for a missed jumper, where he should have found a teammate, Mosley got back down the court to make a good defensive stop with under a minute left in the 1st.
5a) Mosley had 8 points, 6 boards, 3 blocks, and 1 assist. His 3rd block with just over 1 minute, 20 seconds left was a huge defensive stop.

6) Despite missing all three of his 3 point attempts in the 1st half, Stoglin had 14 points in the first 20 minutes. His last basket of the half had a high degree of difficulty. Whatever led him to being on the bench to start the game, Stoglin did not let it impact his play on the court. In the 2nd half, Stoglin had a beautiful step back jumper. Stoglin finished with 22 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist. He was 10 of 11 from the foul-line.

7) In general I prefer an aggressive up and down the court style of play. That said, I think Turgeon did a great job of slowing down the tempo a bit to start the 2nd half. Maryland was walking the ball over the timeline, and was being a bit more deliberate. They would still run when the opportunity presented itself, but were saving energy overall and doing what was necessary to run their offense better.

8) Weijs got his first basket of the season, with a 2nd half slam. Stoglin found Weijs with a quick decisive pass, and Weijs threw it down hard. Calling bank, Weijs put MD back-up by 10 with a jumper from the foul-line.

9) Maryland won on the boards 34 to 28.

10) Despite a bunch of turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, Maryland finished with just 13 turnovers for the game.

The Bad:

1) Playing without Howard is going to be harder than playing without Len. Howard’s interior passing, ability to run the offense, and hit open 3’s is something this team needs. I understand the logic of Howard Red-shirting if need be, but I’m still hoping for a quicker than originally anticipated recovery.

2) Parker plays very loose with the ball. We saw in the Exhibition, and again tonight sloppy lackadaisical passes. Parker also had an ugly 3 point attempt in the 2nd half, falling down on his shot. I think offensively he needs to focus on going towards the rim.

3) Until Len, and Howard return; the Terps only have 7 scholarship players available. This of course means that the walk-on players have to help. Still, seeing Auslander and Thomas enter early was still a bit jarring.

4) After getting a rebound on the defensive glass, Faust raced to the other side of the court and threw-up a wild shot which missed everything. He settled for a jumper, with open teammates to be found. We know Faust has not been a PG since his early days with John Carroll, but this team will have to continually look to make the extra pass and find their teammates.
4a) Faust missed his first two free throw attempts.

5) With about 2 minutes left in the 1st half, the Terps negated some good perimeter defense with a touch foul from Auslander (40 feet from the basket), and by not going for a rebound under their own basket.

6) After a Wilmington miss with under a minute left in the 1st half, the Terps attempted to get out on transition. Maryland had a 3-1 fast-break, and Mosley settled for a jumper (which was missed) as opposed to finding his teammates.

7) Weijs picked up his 4th foul with just under 12 minutes in the game remaining.

8) I wanted Mosley to be more aggressive last year. With this team, he absolutely needs to find his offensive game. I think he could have found more than 8 attempts tonight. At the minimum, he needs to fight to get to the foul-line.

9) Up 6 with 90 seconds left, Stoglin had a poor turnover at the top of the key.

The Ugly:

1) Stoglin was in the game quickly enough, but did not start. (The starting lineup was Faust, Parker, Mosley, Pankey, and Padgett.) Have to think this was a sign from Coach Turgeon that he was not happy with Stoglin in some regard.

2) The Terps were 0 for 9 from the 3 point line.

3) Maryland was 21 of 30 from the foul line with Faust missing 4 of his 9 attempts. Terps Radio Analyst Chris Knoche said Faust had ‘Too much lefthand,’ in his shot. Padgett also missed all 3 of his attempts.

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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