Maryland beats Georgia Tech; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland won their third consecutive game tonight, beating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 74-63. With the win, the Terps are now 14-7 overall, and move to 4-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The story of the game from the perspective of the Terrapins was that Maryland consistently went to the rim. Having missed all 6 of their 3 point attempts, the Terps scored all 74 of their points either from the interior or at the foul-line.

The Good:

1) Maryland played the passing lanes well, and were doing a good job of attacking the rim in transition.

2) Williams had a very limited offensive game against Virginia. Tonight he was able to get involved early, again beating defenders down the floor. 21 points, and 15 boards for the Sophomore Center as he started a new double-double streak.

3) Great block from Gregory on what looked to be a sure dunk. Overall the Senior PF finished with 9 points, and 7 boards.

4) Nice interior pass from Howard to Tucker in the last few minutes of the first half. I thought Howard had one of his best games of the year against UVA, and I think he followed that up with a solid outing tonight. In the first half he had a really nice interior pass to Tucker, and in the 2nd half he did a good job of running the offense. He also surprised the Georgia Tech defense by blowing past their guards for an easy layup.

5) Early in the 2nd half, Stoglin made a decision I really liked. He had an open 3, but instead of letting it fly, he went to the basket. I liked the decision because he knew Tech’s Daniel Miller had 3 fouls and was not going to protect the basket. Stoglin had 13 points, including 7 for 7 at the foul-line.

6) Without a sick Brian Oliver, the Yellow Jackets were extremely guard heavy tonight. With numerous ball handlers on the floor, it was good to see that Maryland’s guards could still cause problems with defensive on the ball pressure, forcing 17 turnovers.

7) Mosley had a breakout early for a dunk, and really seemed to be looking to score. He used his strength to get good looks inside, and had more FG attempts tonight (12) than any game since Illinois on November 19th. Mosley finished with 16 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals.

8) Maryland had a good day at the foul-line, hitting 24 of their 32 attempts.

9) The Terps had 9 steals, led by Bowie’s 3.

10) After the 65-52 lead became a 65-61 four-point game, the Terps played with great resolve to close out the game with a 9-2 run.

The Bad:

1) Georgia Tech was extending their pressure defense, and MD’s guards were having trouble dealing with it early. To much ‘East/West’ passing and not enough ‘North/South’ penetration.

2) Twice in the first-half the Terps started to get some separation, only to allow the Yellow Jackets to get back into the game. With really no interior play from Georgia Tech, (made worse by having to play without Oliver) I think there was an opportunity to knock out Georgia Tech early. Maryland gave away too many possessions when they had the chance to extend their leads.

3) Bowie had a monster game against Virginia, doing everything he wanted. I did not have any false expectations of him becoming a consistent 20 point a game scorer, but was hoping he could build off of that outing. Bowie came into tonight averaging 9.9 points per game and had 15 games with at-least 9 points. So, overall this year he has been consistent. It can only be labeled a disappointment though that after his best game of the year, he followed it up with one of his worst offensive games tonight. (3 points, 1 of 10 from floor).

4) As pointed out above, MD was playing a guard heavy GT team. With that known, the Terps should have done better on the boards. 36-33 Terps.

The Ugly:

1) Maryland had built a 65-52 lead at the 8 minute mark of the 2nd half, and were in  complete control. Over the next 4 minutes the Terps did not score (actually went 5mts 45 seconds without a FG) as they had all types of trouble against the press of the Yellow Jackets, and also allowed 9 points unanswered. You can respect Georgia Tech with playing with pride on their home floor and not giving up; but the only reason they got back into the game is because the Terps were so uncomfortable against the pressure.

Up-Next:

With three consecutive league wins, Maryland is playing their best ball of the season. On Wednesday the Terps will get the opportunity to again face the Duke Blue Devils. Duke got beat pretty good today in New York against St. John’s, but you can bet that will only lead to a more focused effort from the Devils on Wednesday night.

In Durham, Maryland showed an ability to play with Duke and I think we will see more of the same in College Park. Duke really does not have any good answers for Williams inside, and also lacks that consistent interior post scorer. What Duke does have is numerous options capable of heating up from the outside. As always against the Devils you have to defend the perimeter, and win on the glass. For this MD team, they also have to score in transition.

After Duke the next two games for Maryland is Wake Forest and Longwood. So, if the Terps can pull off a victory over the Devils, they will not only be just 1 game behind Duke in the ACC standings, but will be positioned to go on a bit of a run.