The University of Maryland Terrapins have played their last game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), losing 67-65 to the Florida State Seminoles in the ACC Tournament. The winning basket for FSU coming on a dunk from Boris Bojanovsky with .4 seconds left.

Maryland falls to 17-15, 9-10 in the ACC for the season. It’s possible their season may continue with an invite to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Sunday night. (The site Bracket Matrix had MD included in the NIT field as of Tuesday.) While that is to-be-determined, what is known is that MD’s NCAA Tournament drought will continue.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

What did we see?

1) It was a hard fought, back-and-forth game. In a lot of ways, a microcosm for MD’s 2013-14 season as a whole. Nothing came easy. MD did show some fight, did have opportunities. Ultimately not able to do enough to win.

2) Trailing 17-10, Maryland went on a 24-15 run over the last 9 minutes of the 1st half. In the 2nd half, the Terps trailed 56-49 with 9 minutes left. They were able to tie the game with two FT’s from Wells with 16 seconds left. As mentioned above, FSU would score on a dunk for the Seminoles win. A finishing end for the game, as the Seminoles dominated the scoring in the paint.

2a) The Terps were 12 of 28 (43%) from the floor, including 7 of 15 from 3 in the 1st half. For the game, MD was 20 of 51 (39%) overall, 8 of 23 from 3.

3) Smotrycz, who had a big 1st half vs. Virgina last weekend, missed the game today with back spasms.

4) With Smotrycz on the bench, MD’s starting lineup included both Cleare and Mitchell. Faust also got the nod in-front of Layman.

5) Dealing with the size of FSU was an issue for the Terrapins. The Seminoles had a 21-16 rebounding edge in the 1st half, a 39-26 edge for the game. That rebounding advantage, and the FSU scoring advantage in the paint was the difference.

6) Allen led the way for the Terrapins in the 1st half, scoring 13 points. He was 5 of 7 from the floor, 3 of 4 from 3. He scored MD’s first basket of the 2nd half, but then was largely taken out of the game. Allen finished with 18 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He was 6 of 11 from the floor, 4 of 7 from 3.

7) Layman had 8 points (a thunderous dunk, and two 3’s) in the 1st half. He also added 4 boards, and 2 blocks. He finished the game with 15 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. Not a horrible game for Layman as he made some difference out-front of MD’s press. Scoring wise, he had the 15 points; but the opportunity was there for more. He finished 6 of 13 from the floor, 2 of 7 from 3. Several of the 3’s were shots were questionable decisions early in possessions.

8) Maryland turned things around the 1st half, when Coach Turgeon went to a smaller more athletic lineup. MD ate into the deficit in the 2nd half when Turgeon utilized the press. These were good decisions from Turgeon. I would have liked to see him stay with this approach for longer stretches.

9) Wells picked up his 2nd foul with 8:35 left in the 1st half, chaining him to bench. As typical, Wells made his mark in the 2nd half. Wells had 18 points, making 9 of his 10 foul shots. He was just 4 of 11 from the floor, and had only 2 boards.

10) Mitchell and Cleare combined for 0 points (0 of 3 from the floor), 5 boards, 1 assist, and 3 fouls in the 1st half.  They finished with a combined 2 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. Cleare had a few positive moments in the 2nd half. Mitchell hurt his hand, temporarily forcing him back to the locker-room.

10a) Dodd, and Graham also had time in the 1st half, as Coach Turgeon tried to provide different looks to the FSU bigs. Whenever Dodd gets time, he shows his athleticism. He also shows himself to be very raw, and just retched at the foul line. Graham was on the floor for the last play.

11) Peters had 2 boards, and a steal in the 1st half. Inserted into the game, he helped some defensively. He missed both of his shots (a runner in the lane, and a 3 from the top of the key). The missed 3 was bricked badly, as was the front end of a 1&1 FT attempt he took. He needs to take 1,000 shots a day leading up to his Sophomore year.  Peters finished with 4 points (1 of 5), 2 boards, 1 steal. 0 assists, and 0 turnovers.

12) Faust was 1 of 5 from the floor (hitting on a fouled 3) in the 1st half. 3 of 3 from the line, he had 6 points in the 1st half with 4 assists, and 2 steals. He also had 4 turnovers. Faust would not score in the 2nd half, and he also did not have another attempt. The 5 assists were good, the 7 turnovers were horrific. Multiple times he was picked off with lazy passes.

13) The Terps had 5 turnovers in the 1st half. They finished the game with 12.

14) Maryland was 17 of 22 from the foul line.

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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