Terps beat Houston; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland Terrapins moved into the 2nd-round of the NCAA Tournament, with a 89-77 win over the Houston Cougars.

The Terps came out shooting more 3’s than you wanted to see, and turned the ball over a few-times unforced, while Houston’s Aubrey Coleman was hot.

Still, Maryland responded by going on a solid-run, and pushing their lead to 8 points in the closing minutes of the first-half. When Houston hit two 3-pointers (including a near half-court shot at the buzzer) you started to wonder if this was going to be a game Maryland was going to have to sweat-out.

The answer was no, it was not. The Terps made adjustments, and the depth of their roster took over as Maryland’s Gary Williams earned his 10th consecutive 1st-round win; and moved past the Cougars Tom Penders on the all-time career win list.

The Good:

1) The Terrapins did not allow a rough beginning of the game to dictate their night. Maryland took (and missed) 6 three-pointers early, and also had 4 turnovers. Maryland made the necessary adjustments, taking only 10 more three-pointers in the next 35 minutes of the game, with only 6 more turnovers.

1a) Houston does not play a lot of defense, but they do not turn the ball over either (only 6 turnovers tonight). It was good that MD was able to run such an efficient offense in the 2nd-half, without the need of a bunch of turnovers from the opposition.

2) What more can you say about Jordan Williams? 21 points, and 17 boards for the Freshman in his NCAA Tournament debut. While the Cougars had limited options inside, Williams still gets credit for making 9 of his 14 attempts from the field, and hitting 3 of 4 shots at the line.

3) Landon Milbourne played like a Senior that wanted to see his College career continue, and like a player that had again found his legs. Again, while understanding Houston had limited options inside – Milbourne was strong with his 19 points, and 7 boards. He gets additional credit for making all 7 of his foul-shots.

4) Coleman was lighting the Terps up in the 1st-half, but MD adjusted and held him scoreless for 10 minutes in the 2nd-half. That stretch of defense on Coleman effectively ended any chance for the Cougars to pull the upset.

5) Maryland dominated on the glass 47-26. This was expected, but Terps get credit for taking care of business.

6) Vasquez missed 5 three-pointers, but had a good floor-game with 16 points (all 6 from the foul-line), 7 boards, 6 assists, and just 2 turnovers. I liked that he seemed to recognize he was off shooting, and did not force the issue. With 5 minutes 20 seconds left in the game, the lead was under 10 when Vasquez added a major basket.

7) Bowie chipped in with 9 points, including two important 3 pointers. Tucker added 5 points, and 7 rebounds.

8) Maryland dominated the points in the paint.

9) The Terps getting to the foul-line 25 times is a recipe for success. Maryland making 21 of their 25 attempts, while Houston missed 12 of their 32 attempts directly effected the game.

The Bad:

1) Maryland was settling for 3’s early in the game.

2) While only 10 turnovers for the Terps tonight, there were too many unforced errors for Maryland. Eric Hayes getting his pocket picked for an easy lay-up for the 2nd-time in several games can not happen. Tucker had a lazy pass to no one. Mosley tried to force a pass in traffic, he had no business atempting.

3) Gregory had 2 blocked-shots, and attempted to take some charges; but if he plays 16 minutes he has to help rebound. (0 tonight)

The Ugly:

1) None. The Terps won their NCAA Opener for the 2nd consecutive season, and their 10th straight opening-game overall with Williams.

Up-Next:

Maryland draws Tom Izzo, and the 5th seeded Michigan State Spartans Sunday afternoon. The likely out-come is that the winner will face the prohibitive Title favorite Kansas Jayhawks the following week in the Sweet 16.