Terps over VaTech; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland moved to 13-7 overall, and 3-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 73-69 victory over Virginia Tech.

Not only did the Terps earn the league win, but they ended their 3 game losing streak.

The Good:

1) Maryland took the early 4-0 lead, with both Pankey and Padgett scoring in the post after establishing position. Starting with some scoring inside is a great way to begin a game.
1a) Pankey had 8 points, scoring on 3 of his 5 attempts. He made a huge difference with his rebounding, grabbing 10 boards.

2) In the first 5+minutes of action, Mosley had hit two 3 pointers, and forced a turnover with a steal out on the wing. For the game, Mosley finished with 3 steals, and 15 points. His defense was on full display with his block in the closing minutes. A number of times he provided a calming influence for the Terps, including the 5 foul shots he hit to close the game.

3) Nice start for the Terps, with MD taking a 13 point lead (24-11) with just under 9 minutes to play in the 1st half. The Terps punctuated an 8-0 run with Faust delivering a nice pass to Pankey for the slam.

4) Virginia Tech had reduced MD’s 15 point lead to 6 by the middle of the 2nd half. Stoglin provided the answer with back-to-back 3’s. With 3 minutes left in the game, the lead was back down to 5. Stoglin again answered with another 3. As he always does, Stoglin scored on a variety of moves, and also got to the line effectively. Stoglin finished with 30 points, and 5 boards.

5) Howard had two excellent passes (to Faust, and Stoglin) in transition.

6) Faust had 6 points (4 for 6 at the line), 6 boards, and 3 assists.

7) The Hokies helped MD out with their lack of shooting, but the Terps deserve some credit for the defense they provided. Virginia Tech shot just 39% (23 of 59 from the floor).

The Bad:

1) Despite his initial success, Len’s recent struggles have apparently caused some confidence issues. That was apparent in Len’s first play off the bench, as he looked indecisive as he decided between shooting and passing. Later in the 1st half, he turned the ball over with a sloppy pass to Mosley.

2) Coming out of a timeout (7:30 left on the 1st half clock), Virginia Tech switched to a zone, which seemed to confuse the Terps. MD would score just 8 points over the next 6 minutes of play.

3) After struggling at the line against Duke, Stoglin was just 6 of 11 from the line today. Several of his misses were in the final minutes.

4) Late in the 1st half, MD was having a strong defensive possession, when Mosley bailed out the Hokies with a foul with 1 second left on the shot-clock.

5) With just over a minute left in the 1st half, Stoglin had the ball in his hands with the clock running down. After falling down, he did well just to get a shot up. The ‘negative’ happened as he went back down the court, and fouled the Hokies out of frustration.
5a) The Terps were up 8 with 40+ seconds remaining, when Stoglin was called for a charge. Just can not happen.

6) Parker had two sloppy turnovers. Once immediately turning the ball over with a walk (coming out of the TO, when VaTech switched to their zone defense), and a second time on offense, throwing a pass out of bounds. Parker has had a number of games where he has contributed with his hustle, rebounding, and defense. Today, he provided next to nothing in his 12 minutes of play.

7) Stoglin also threw a pass out of bounds, wasting a MD possession.

8) MD had 16 turnovers, with Stoglin having 5, Faust 3, and Mosley, Len, Parker, and Padgett each having 2.

9) Faust twice missed the front-end of important 1 & 1’s with about 2 minutes left in the game.

The Ugly:

1) The atmosphere for the Duke game earlier in the week was great. Today the crowd that was there was loud, but there again there were lots of empty seats. It is one thing to not sell out a game against the ‘Little Sisters of the Poor’ in December, with students on their Winter break. It is another thing to allow conference opponents to come into College Park and not have to deal with a Comcast Center at full-voice.

2) With 3 and 1/2 minutes gone in the 2nd half, MD had pushed their lead to 15. Instead of keeping their foot on the throats of the Hokies, the Terps allowed Virginia Tech to answer with a 8-0 run. MD would push the lead back to 13, only to see Virginia Tech again make a run.