Playing for the first time in 10 days, the University of Maryland Terrapins improved to 8-4 with a 89-50 beating over the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The victory was obviously never in doubt, so the most interesting news of the night was that Freshman Pe’Shon Howard cracked the starting lineup for the first time in collegiate career, moving Cliff Tucker to the bench.

With Howard starting, it puts Bowie off the ball in a position he is more comfortable with, and gives Maryland two players (Stoglin, and Tucker) who can score off the bench.

The Good:

1) Howard answered that starting call, hitting a quick 3, and providing a nice entry pass to Williams early. 4 points, 4  assists, 2 steals. Maybe his biggest contribution was how the lineup played around of. Gary Williams praised his energy.

2) NJIT runs a 4 guard offense. While the Highlanders have little talent, it was good for Maryland to gain the experience of facing a near all-guard offense.

3) For good (and occasionally for bad) Stoglin is just not afraid to make his presence felt. He hit two 3’s, finished with 8 points and 5 assists.

4) Tucker came off the bench and initially was clearly looking for his teammates, and helping to facilitate the offense. He then started to look for his own shot, and poured in on NJIT. If the move to bench was to have Tucker increase his aggression, it appeared to have worked. He finished with 11 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals.

5) Padgett came in and was looking to score, finishing with 10 points.

6) Mosley had a couple of 1st half blocks, and was active. Finished with 11 points, 2 boards, 2 steals, and those 2 blocks.

7) At the 9:30 mark, Maryland was ahead 19-13. At half-time the game was 53-18. That is a bit of a run. Walt Williams asked Coach Gary Williams about the insertion of Howard to the starting lineup, and Coach Williams said that Howard had played the best in the last four or five practices. He also said he had been looking to get off to better starts, and quipped that it appeared to have worked tonight. Terps forced 17 NJIT turnovers in the 1st-half.

8) Gregory is contributing a lot during his Senior season. He is hitting open jumpers, providing help defense, and most importantly getting on the glass. Finished with 14 points, 9 boards, 3 blocks.

9) Mr. Double-double Jordan Williams had 14 points, and 12 boards, which is was pretty good since he was off.

9) 6 different Terrapins scored in double-figures tonight, 7 players had at-least 8 points.

10) As discussed, with Howard starting, Bowie played off the ball. Bowie hit 3 of 6 attempts from 3, and finished with 13 points.

11) Weijs had a follow-up slam and a second finish at the rim.

12) Maryland won on the boards 35-23, had 10 blocks, 9 steals, were 9 of 15 from 3, and 20 of 26 from foul-line.

The Bad:

1) NJIT utilized a zone defense which limited the Maryland offense at the start. To many passes on the outside, without getting the ball inside.

2) At the 8:25 mark of the 1st half, Williams had 3 shot attempts. The Terps were going multiple possessions with Williams not even touching the ball. I do not care who Maryland is playing, it should be a priority of Williams’ teammates to be looking for Jordan on nearly every trip down the floor.

3) The game was over shortly after tip-off, but I would have liked to have seen the Terps finish better. After winning the 1st-half 53 to 18, the 2nd-half score was just 36-32 Maryland.

The Ugly:

Nothing ugly about tonight. Maryland was playing the little sisters of the poor, and the Terps took it to the opposition.

Up-Next:

Maryland hosts North Florida next Wednesday night. The Osprey’s beat Morgan State earlier this season, but have been overwhelmed by Major conference teams.

Another game where the Terps will not be challenged, and you will be looking more at how MD plays, than the game itself.

News:

Maryland opened the season by beating Seattle University 105-76. Tonight the Redhawks won at Virginia 59-53.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

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.

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