The University of Maryland improved to 2-1 on the year, with a 91-74 victory over LIU-Brooklyn.
The Good:
1) Len pulled the Terps within 1 (7-6), cleaning up a Faust miss. Using his size, Len gave MD the 8-7 lead (with all 8 points), taking position inside. Back down the court, he had a block. With 15 minutes left in the 2nd half, Len had back-to-back big slams to put the Terps up 15. Great job running the court. Len finished with 18 points, 7 boards, and 4 blocks.
2) Faust had an early steal. A short time later Faust would hit a 3, putting the Terps up 4 at 11-7. Using a strong 1st step, Faust went strong to the rim for 2 points and a trip to the line. Going to the basket again, Faust was able to dump to Mitchell for two. Faust finished with 6 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.
3) Up 8-7, Wells went sky high for a board. Earlier he had delivered a great pass inside to Len for a basket as well. Loved seeing Wells take up post position, and score inside. Taking an outlet pass, Wells bulldozed his way to the interior again, putting the Terps up 15-9. Coming off a Mitchell block, Wells quickly scored on the other end. Early in the 2nd half, Wells had two blocks in transition. Not able to throw down a potential alley-oop, Wells kept the ball live, allowing Len to finish. Using the window, Wells had a jumper with 5 minutes left. Wells had 15 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.
4) Great block from Mitchell in transition. Mitchell scored in the 2nd half, taking a pass from Faust under the basket. 4 boards in 12 minutes for Mitchell.
5) Maryland went up 19-11, with Cleare loudly following up a Mitchell miss. After a miss from Allen, Cleare again showed his power with another thunderous dunk. Nice little hook from Cleare with 13 minutes left in the 2nd. Just backed down his defender, and shot straight over. The next time out, he stepped out to 10 feet and hit the short jumper. Cleare had 8 points, and 2 boards.
6) Aronhalt had a 3 against the 3-2 LIU zone in the middle of the 1st half.
7) At 27-21, MD used full court pressure defense out of a timeout. Wells got the steal with his his athleticism.
8) Terps went up 30-21, when Layman passed on a 3, and stepped into a long 2. Layman would start for MD to begin the 2nd half. He got up for an alley-oop with about 17:30 left in the half. Layman had 4 points, and 3 boards.
9) As the 1st half ticked down, Allen came off a screen, and hit a 3. This gave the Terps the 39-30 lead. Going against the 3-2 LIU zone, Allen knocked down a 3 with 9 minutes left. Allen’s 3rd triple made it a 10 point game (66-56). A little time later he added a fourth 3. With great body control, Allen had a nice up and under with about 4:30 left. In the last minutes of the game, he had his fifth 3, and a dunk. Allen had 19 points, 2 boards, and 4 assists.
10) Padgett had a great move in the post for 2 points early in the 2nd half. After getting blocked by a short LIU guard, Padgett stuck with it and scored on the following attempt. Padgett had 9 points and 3 boards.
11) Looking up the court, Howard a nice pass to find Layman for a 2nd half alley-oop. Pushing the action, Howard got into the lane, and found Len with a good look. Howard’s first basket came on a triple with less than 5 minutes left. He found Allen the next time down. Howard finished with 7 points (4-4 from the line), 7 boards, 13 assists, with 2 steals.
12) The Terps were 8 of 12 from 3 point land. Maryland dominated on the boards.
The Bad:
1) LIU got out to a quick 7-2 lead.
2) Layman entered the game, and quickly picked up a charging foul. Starting for MD in the 2nd half, Layman missed 2 FT’s in the opening minutes.
3) Allen turned the ball over, as he attempted to split a double team.
4) Mitchell had a turn over with to much ball handling outside the paint. As action moved down the other side of the court, Mitchell picked up another foul.
5) Bad pass attempt from Howard, with 7 and 1/2 left in the 1st half.
6) From around 5 minutes and 46 seconds left in the 1st half, to the 4 minute 30 second mark; Wells, Layman, and Mitchell had back-to-back-to-back turnovers. This took a 9 point MD lead down to 5.
7) LIU pulled back within 3 (30-27), right around the 3 minute mark of the 1st half.
8) Len was not able to corral a Cleare pass, with under 3 minutes left in the 1st half. He also turned it over to start the 2nd half.
9) After a strong move in the post the prior time down the floor, Padgett turned it over the next time down with a lazy pass.
10) At 61-53 MD, with 8:30 on the clock; Coach Turgeon had to call a time out to adjust Maryland’s problems against the full court pressure.
11) Maryland had 12 turnovers in the 1st half.
12) Faust was 2 of 8 from the floor, and had 3 turnovers.
13) The Terps were 13 of 20 from the foul line.
The Ugly:
1) Coach Turgeon was disappointed with the Maryland effort, particularly defensively in the 1st half.
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.