As with many other conference games this year, the first half tonight was a struggle for Maryland. However, the Terps played well enough in the 2nd half to survive and advance – beating the Wake Forest 75-62. With the victory over the Demon Deacons, the Terps improve to 21-11 overall, and 9-10 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Maryland has earned the right to play Duke tomorrow night. The Blue Devils have been on-fire since the return of Ryan Kelly, becoming the favorites of many to win the National Title next Month.
The Good:
1) 2 minutes into the game, Faust scored the first points of the night on his 3 from the wing. Cutting hard down the lane, Faust was fouled late in the 1st half. He knocked down both of his shots to make it 29-28 Wake. The 2nd half started with Faust driving the lane and getting fouled. He hit both shots to make it 35-32 Wake. Beautiful behind-the-back pass from Faust to Wells for a slam. Turning the corner, Faust drove the lane and threw down a big slam, to make it 50-49 Wake. Faust had 10 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
2) We know he can step out and shoot, but we prefer when Len does his scoring inside. That said, as long as he is going to shoot from deep, it is better to see him make it. Hitting his first 3 of the year, MD took a 6-3 lead. Right around the 15 minute mark of the 1st half, Len came up with his 2nd early block. Len followed a Mitchell miss, to put MD up 43-41. A quick spin on the baseline got Len to the foul line. Knocking down both shots, put MD up 51-50. MD went up again (56-54) off of Len’s alley-oop. Getting good position on the block, Len used glass to put MD up 66-58. For a game where he had foul trouble, Len was pretty effective when on the floor. Len finished with 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
3) The Terps took a 8-7 lead, with Mitchell’s first basket, scoring on an in-bounds. Mitchell cleaned up a missed 3, scoring while being fouled. With the FT, the Terps went up 64-56 with 4:43 left. 6 points, and 3 board for Mitchell.
4) Fouled on the play, Allen hit his floater in the lane. With the FT, MD took an 11-7 lead. Down 29-22, Allen came up with a 3, and then caused a Wake turnover, and was fouled. Allen stepped in to take a charge with 5:25 left. Going from the 3 point line to the rim, Allen scored to give MD a 10 point lead with 2:30 left. 11 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals tonight for Allen.
5) Maryland went up 13-9, when Wells hit a jumper from the baseline. Stopping on a dime, Wells knocked down a shot from the foul line. This made it 15-11 MD. Driving and creating on his own, Wells made it 33-30 Wake with his layup. Wells crushed his slam off the pass from Faust, and followed that with a trip to the line. His 2 FT’s made it 36-35 MD. Burying an open 3, MD went up 39-37. Wells threw down a crazy dunk with his left hand, to make it 41-41 with 15:30 left. He just exploded down the floor on that play. Knocking down another 3, MD took a 46-45 lead. Wells play to start the 2nd half, is why MD gets another chance at Duke tomorrow. Wells finished with 21 points, going 7 of 10 from the floor.
6) Howard was fouled on his first drive to the basket, and knocked down both of his initial foul shots. Howard created a fast break early in the 2nd half with his defense, leading to a flush from Wells. Howard knocked down an important 3, putting MD up 4 at 59-55 with 6:30 left. He then tipped in a missed layup from Faust. Howard’s layup with under 2 minutes left, basically sealed the win. Nice game for Howard. Like many others, I was burying Howard several weeks ago. He has played pretty well in recent games, particularly on defense. Howard had 10 points.
7) Padgett got to the line, on his put-back attempt off a miss from Wells.
8) After grabbing positioning in the post, Cleare scored his first basket of the day on a jump hook, to make it 23-21 Wake.
9) Maryland did a good job getting to the line in the 1st half, making 9 of their 13 attempts. This was keeping them in the game. Maryland finished the game going 22 of 29 from the line.
10) Starting the 2nd half for the Terps, Layman came up with a steal at the 17 minute mark.
11) Aronhalt hit a 3, making it 54-52 MD.
12) After 10 turnovers in the 1st half, Maryland had just 2 turnovers in the 2nd half.
13) Maryland was 7 of 15 from 3.
The Bad:
1) Maryland started the game with a turnover, with Wells having a poor attempt at a lob. Disgusting turnover from Wells with 2 minutes left in the 1st half, caused by looking for the highlight pass. With under 30 seconds left in the half, Wells dribbled the ball of his leg.
2) The Terps held the ball, but a jump ball was forced when Len brought the ball to the ground and he was tied up. Similar to the previous game vs. Wake, Len fell for pump-fakes from Thomas. Len picked up his 2nd foul with 8:30 left in the 1st half. With 7 minutes left in regulation, Len picked up his 4th foul.
3) Maryland was up 6-5, when a Wake defender fell to the ground near mid-court. With the 5-4 advantage, Mitchell turned the ball over. Mitchell missed two FT’s with 5 minutes left in the 1st half. At 41-41 Mitchell missed everything from close to the rim. Did not know where he was.
4) Faust was called for an offensive foul, when he pushed off his defender with MD leading 11-7. Easy call as he used his elbow to create space. Attempting to drive and dish, Faust had another MD turnover with the Terps up 13-9.
5) Coach Turgeon was disappointed in the first half that MD was not running the offense.
6) Wake went up 29-22, having gone on an 11-3 run, where they made 5 out of 6 FG attempts. MD’s defense was very soft in this stretch.
7) With under 5 minutes left in the 1st half, Padgett had back-to-back turnovers.
8) Allen missed a layup with MD down 31-28, and 1:30 left in the 1st half. At 43-43, Allen had his dunk attempt blocked at the rim. After forcing a turnover and getting to the rim, Allen could not finish with 8 minutes left. He followed that with a foul which put Wake on the line.
9) Maryland was down 35-30 at the half.
10) Wake was slicing MD up with their interior passing for most of the first 30 minutes.
11) With just over 4 minutes left, Layman hit a good cut to the rim, but was not able to finish an open look at the basket.
12) Wake Forest entered the game 260th overall in rebounding, but was near equal with the Terps on the boards for most of tonight.
The Ugly:
1) 10 first half turnovers for Maryland tonight, with them leading directly to 13 points for Wake Forest.
1a) In the 1st half, Wake shot 47% from the floor (15-32), while Maryland had just 18 FG attempts due to those 10 turnovers.
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.