Terps hold on to beat Mount St. Mary’s; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Up 16 points late in the 1st half, the University of Maryland would wind-up trailing Mount St. Mary’s in the 2nd half. Down the stretch, the Terps and Mountaineers traded blows, with MD doing just enough to escape with the 77-74 win to improve to 5-3 overall.

The Good:

1) I liked that MD’s offense focused on going inside and scoring in the paint. I also liked that as MSM made their 2nd half run, the Terps did not fold.

2) Stoglin gave MD the early 7-2 lead, dropping a short jumper in the lane, while being fouled and then converting at the line. He does such an excellent job of drawing contact and getting to the charity stripe. When MSM trimmed what had been a 16 point lead down to 9, Stoglin hit a very difficult shot to move the lead back to double-digits. With the Terps up 2 at 67-65, Stoglin took a charge getting the ball back to MD. Buried another difficult shot to again put MD up at 71-70, followed by another jumper for the 3 point lead. It is worth noting that all of these late plays came on a twisted ankle. 23 points, 3 boards, 3 assists. 7 of 10 from the foul line.

3) Whatever kept Pankey glued to the bench against Notre Dame, was not an issue tonight. He has shown offensive skills this year, that are much better than what was advertised. I’m not saying he will ever become a strong post scorer, but he is able to hit short jumpers, has good moves (and the strength to finish) around the basket, and can shoot at the foul-line. 13 points, 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 block.

4) Great pass from Faust to Auslander to give the Terps the 15-10 lead. After giving up the ball, Faust got it right back and hit a jumper from the foul-line to put MD up 29-20. An outstanding aggressive drive from Faust, gave MD a 15 point lead late in the 1st. Faust would hit an open 3 to give the lead back to the Terps at 64-63. After a late turnover (his 2nd straight) he got back down the court and made a good defensive play. Huge block from the Freshman in the closing seconds. Faust finished with 13 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.

5) Weijs started a Maryland fast-break with a block.

6) At 29-20, Mosley made a nice decision to get the ball to Padgett underneath vs. kicking out to Faust for a 3. Padgett finished, giving the Terps the double-digit lead. On the next possession, Mosley would hit a jumper. As MSM was making a run, Mosley made an important defensive stop with a block. 8 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

7) Padgett is attacking the rim, and showing an ability to finish. For the 4th consecutive game, the Jr. Forward would score in double figures. 15 points, 6 boards.

8) Nice block from Parker, with MD up 9 in the 2nd half. Parker was asked to hit two crucial foul shots to end the game, and he did so; despite being iced with a timeout after his first shot.

The Bad:

1) MD had trouble finding shooters on the defensive end. They were doubling down on players, and giving open looks from the outside (MSM hit 11 of their 21 shots from 3).

2) With MD up 27-18, they allowed MSM to have another possession with lackadaisical rebounding on a Mountaineers miss. This happened again, as the half was ending. This time MSM would drill a 3 to trim the Terps lead to 13. MSM closed the game to 6 (58-52), when they got two more offensive boards and drilled another 3.

3) The 2nd half started with a MD turnover, a MSM 3, and another MD turnover.

4) With the Terps up just 2 at 67-65, Faust dribbled a ball of his leg which wasted a MD possession. Down 1 at 68-67, Faust had another turnover.

5) MD was just 25 of 35 at the foul line. I guess I am a hypocrite, because MD shot this exact same number against Notre Dame and I listed it as ‘Good’ because I deemed it an improvement. I am listing the foul shooting as ‘Bad’ tonight, because I felt they missed opportunities to extend the early lead and put the game away.

6) I had hoped that the Terps would be able to control the glass against MSM, but the Mountaineers played MD just about even on the boards. (29-28 Maryland.)

The Ugly:

1) When you are playing an inferior team, you have to deliver the knock-out punch when you have the opportunity. MD went from being up 16 late in the 1st half, to trailing with just under 7 minutes to play. MSM deserves some credit for hitting some shots, but the Mountaineers run was built around poor play from the Terps. MD did not have a FG for nearly 8 minutes. They were also allowing too many 2nd shots, and open looks.