MD beats Cornell; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland’s first game in 2012 started with the Terps on fire and grabbing a large early lead. However, MD was frigid in the 2nd half, scoring their first FG with under 9 minutes remaining. Due to this, Cornell was able to get back into the game.

As the game got tight, MD was able to maintain a slim lead, and eventually pull out the 70-62 win. With the victory, the Terps move to 10-3 overall, and will now head to NCST to face the Wolfpack Sunday.

The Good:

1) The Terps took complete control of the game from the opening tip with an impressive 16-0 run to start the game. 5 minutes into the game, and MD was  seemingly on the verge of an opening round TKO. This was exactly the type of start you what you want to see against an Ivy League (Yes, I know the ACC was 3 and 3 against the Ivy League coming into this game.) team like Cornell.

2) Maryland’s scoring began with a two-handed throw down from Padgett. The Jr. Forward had a strong offensive rebound on a missed FT from Mosley. An up and under gave the Terps a 28-5 lead.

3) Nice interior pass from Len. Len’s first basket came with him claiming position, and quickly going up strong for the layup. An alley-oop from Howard put MD up 32-13. Len had a big shot block, when he did not bite on the pump fake. Len had a great hustle save, and would score while fouled in the 2nd half. This put MD back up by 6, and got the team and crowd fired-up. He had another 3 points the hard way, to put MD up 55-48. He finished with 15 points, 9 boards, and 3 blocks.

4) Stoglin got out and running, finding Mosley for a layup and a 5-0 MD lead. He put the Terps up 11-0 with a nice runner from close range. It was clear that Stoglin was looking for his teammates during the 1st half. After struggling most of the 2nd half, Stoglin hit a tough runner to MD up by 4 with just under 4 minutes left in the game. He would also hit a needed 3, to again put MD up 4. Stoglin had 14 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.

5) MD extended their early lead to 13-0 when Faust got the steal and finished with a slam.

6) The lead grew to 15, when Howard scored on a layup. Howard was doing an outstanding job of getting his teammates involved. He would hit two clutch FT’s in the closing minute.

7) Mosley gave the Terps a 26-5 lead, with back-to-back 3’s. The Sr. Guard also took an early charge. After making the extra pass, and cutting hard without the ball, Mosley got the ball back and hit another jumper to put MD up 36-17. Mosley had MD’s first FG of the 2nd half, at the 8:30 mark, giving the Terps a 3 point lead. A driving spinning layup put MD up by 5. Mosley finished with 19 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

8) The Terps won on the boards 32-27, and had 15 assists on their 24 made baskets.

The Bad:

1) Len was called for defensive goal-tending. Several times Len came over as a help defender, only to see Cornell find the player he left. Cornell pulled within 44-45, when Len fell for pump fake from a Cornell guard.

2) A poor possession to end the 1st half, allowed Cornell to pull within 15.

3) As MD’s offense stalled in the 2nd half, Stoglin attempted to carry the Terps. I appreciate that he tried to provide the scoring MD needed, but he was forcing shots and needed to get back to finding his teammates.

4) Cornell was switching up their defensive calls in the 2nd half, and MD looked confused as to what they were seeing.

5) Len was 5 for 5 on his FG attempts. Why was he not receiving more opportunities? MD will have to get used to finding him on nearly every possession.

6) Faust was not able to follow-up a good offensive night in his previous game. The Freshman was 1 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 5 from 3 point land.

7) MD was 4 of 19 from 3 point land.

8) Howard had 4 turnovers, and Parker had 3. 

The Ugly:

1) With just 2 points scored in the initial 8+ minutes of the 2nd half, MD allowed Cornell to pull within 1 at 43-42. The Terps were settling for quick jumpers (which were not falling) and failing to get the ball inside. This was frustrating to watch as a Maryland fan, and I’m sure frustrating for the MD players and Coaching staff as well. As the lead grew in the 1st half, the team stayed aggressive and kept attacking. To come back after half-time and be that flat, was hard to watch.

2) Maryland’s first FG of the 2nd half came with 8 and 1/2 minutes remaining.