Maryland moved to 9-4 (0-1 in the ACC) with a decisive 85-62 victory over North Florida of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The victory was of course expected, but unlike last week against NJIT, the Terps effort was inconsistent which makes it harder to like the results.
The Good:
1) For the second straight game Howard started at PG, and Bowie looked more comfortable at the off-guard position. Bowie finished with 10 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal. Howard had 7 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 0 turnovers.
2) Even though he had to leave the game early with an ankle injury, Mosley returned and provided some scoring finishing with 15 points. That was the most points Mosley has had since the season opener against Seattle.
3) The Terps went on a 25-13 run during the last 10 minutes of the 1st half to gain some separation.
4) Maryland has to face Colgate first, but looking forward to seeing Stoglin in Cameron against Duke. Kid is just a gunslinger. Stoglin finished 6 for 9 from the floor for 13 points.
5) In the last 15 minutes of this game tonight, Tucker had all of his 14 points.
6) Maryland had 21 assists, and forced 24 turnovers.
7) Five different Terrapins (Bowie, Mosley, Tucker, Williams, Stoglin) scored in double-figures.
8) Williams finished with his 7th consecutive double-double (17 points, 11 boards), tying Joe Smith’s school record set in 1995.
The Bad:
1) Terps started slow, tied with North Florida at 18 ten minutes into the game.
2) Bowie, and Williams both missed run-out layups in the first-half.
3) Williams was rusty (he missed practice time due to the snow in the Northeast), and it showed. Despite the double-double, and his 3 blocks it was not a great night. Williams was 1 for 10 from the line, including an air ball. In the first half his teammates had trouble finding him.
4) Coach Williams said at half-time he was not happy with the defensive effort. In his post-game it was also clear he was not pleased.
5) Maryland had built a 16 point lead, that was reduced to 8 three minutes into the second-half. When you are playing an inferior opponent, you keep the foot on their throat.
6) 25 minutes into this game, Cliff Tucker had 1 shot. The first six games of this season he averaged 14.8 ppg. In these last seven games he has averaged 7.7 ppg. He can’t go through stretches of 25 minutes where he is a complete non-factor.
7) As Walt Williams said on the radio coverage, on defense you have to fight through screens and not trail off shooters. North Florida’s Parker Smith hit 5 of his first 7 three point attempts. Nobody else on the Osprey’s team was threatening the Terps, the defense against him should have been better.
8) 16 turnovers for Maryland tonight.
9) Maryland won on the boards 36-31, but the differential should have been higher.
The Ugly:
1) Maybe it was coming back from Christmas, or dealing with Finals; but whatever the case the effort was not sufficient tonight. That is not to say there was no effort tonight, that would be an inaccurate representation. The Terps played tonight in spurts. At times their focus lessened, and they were occasionally just a couple of North Florida shots away from the game becoming closer than desired.
Up-Next:
Maryland plays Colgate on January 4th. Colgate is 0 and 11, and faces Longwood on January 2nd before coming into College Park.
Not exactly the best tune up before heading to Duke.
The test will be what type of effort can Maryland give over the course of 40 minutes.
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.