Maryland tops FSU; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland improved to 18-10 overall, and 7-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a convincing 78-62 victory over the Florida State Seminoles.

The Good:

1) Seconds after entering the game, Howard made a beautiful interior pass to Bowie. After hitting two of this three attempts tonight, Howard is now shooting 38% from 3.

2) Bowie’s quickness was making an impact at both ends of the floor. He was pressing the ball, and attacking the rim. In the second-half he had a great drive and dish to Stoglin. Bowie finished with 12 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals off the bench.

3) When Palsson gets his feet-set, he is demonstrating an ability to knock down shots from the outside.

4) Mosley was back in the starting lineup tonight, and was aggressive. FSU is a long and athletic team, Mosley’s strength and experience helped neutralize that. He finished with 10 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

5) Dino Gregory did not light-up the box-score but he had a really good game. He contributed to the offense with his 14 points, but really made a difference with his 8 boards and 3 blocks.

6) After back-to-back 25 point outings, the bar had been raised for Stoglin. He did not reach those heights tonight, but his presence was still felt. He finished with 17 points (including three 3’s, and perfect 4 of 4 from the line), and made several clutch shots.

7) Florida State was held to just 25 points in the 2nd-half. Part of that you have to credit to poor offense from the Seminoles, and part of that you have to credit to the Terps and their defensive effort.

8) Maryland played even with FSU on the boards (28-26) and were particularly determined on the offensive glass in the 2nd half. The Terps also had 18 assists on their 25 made Field Goals, shooting 52% from the field.

9) Six different Terps finished with at-least 9 points. Maryland was also 7 of 14 from 3, and a decent 21 of 30 from the line.

10) Williams had another double-double with 11 points, and 11 boards.

The Bad:

1) In the first two-minutes of the game, Mosley fell down leading to a FSU fast-break. Stoglin made the issue worse with a pointless foul.

2) Several minutes later Stoglin did not convert on a Terrapin fast-break, which lead to an easy score for the Seminoles.

3) Tucker also made a poor decision on a MD fast-break, also failing to convert. This was Tucker’s second straight game back in the starting line-up, and combined he has had 4 points. For whatever reason, he just does not appear comfortable starting.

4) Williams had his first FG attempt with 6:25 left in the first-half. There were opportunities to get him the ball in transition.

5) Maryland had a 9 point lead with 3:51 left in the first-half, but allowed Florida State to convert 5 consecutive shots. This was the second-straight game where MD had trouble closing out the half.

The Ugly:

1) There were a lot of fans dressed as empty-seats tonight. To be fair, I thought that the crowd that was there was one of the louder Comcast crowds of the season. Also, if I am going to call out others, I should call out myself as well. After all, I was watching the game from my couch, and not College Park.

Up-Next:

The Terps will head to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels Sunday Night. North Carolina is 21-6 overall, and 11-2 in the ACC. Ranked in the Top 20 in the Nation, this represents another opportunity for MD to improve their tournament resume.