The Terrapins of Maryland fell to 12-5 overall, and 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 84-70 loss at Florida State. The Terps took their first lead of the game with under 3 minutes gone by in the 2nd half, only to see that followed by an extended run by the Seminoles.

That Maryland was ultimately exposed by a team with greater experience, size, athleticism, and strength is understandable. The disappointment is that the Terps were finding a way to compete, but allowed the game to quickly get away from them.

The Good:

1) Stoglin had his initial two shots blocked, and later he was blocked for  a third time. He did not look bothered at all, he just kept attacking and scoring from a variety of moves. He had a couple of good passes, including a look away to Pankey for the slam. Stoglin finished with 27 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. He was 7 of 8 from the FT line.

2) FSU’s athletic advantage showed early on, but was negated a bit when Parker, and Faust came into the game.
2a) Faust was aggressively looking for his shot down the stretch, and had some positive minutes. While he missed all three of his 3 point attempts, he had a couple of of nice shots from intermediate range. Faust finished with 10 points.
2b) Parker had 6 points, and 7 boards (3 offensive).

3) Mosley found Weijs with a nice pass, pulling the Terps within 2 at 16-14.

4) Really liked the drive and score from Howard, for his basket. Howard was a good open-shot shooter at the end of last year. I’m sure he will get that back at some point. If he can begin to score a bit off the dribble, that will really help his offensive game.

5) MD took their first lead (42-40) when Len made a nice move across the lead for his first basket. He ate up a lot of ground with his long stride, and went up with a short hook.

The Bad:

1) FSU’s first three baskets came from offensive rebounds.

2) In the first 5 minutes, the Seminoles scored twice on run outs, with MD not getting back.

3) Down 12-7, Howard missed an open 3 off the curl. This was followed by an air-ball from Faust. Given a 3rd opportunity, Faust missed again.

4) Stoglin’s first two shots were blocked, as he had trouble against the size and length of FSU.

5) Down 25-21, MD had a 4 on 2 fast-break. Stoglin pulled-up for a 3 and missed. Maryland needed to attack the basket on that possession.

6) Mosley charged with a turnover, when he walked the baseline on an in-bounds. For years, we watched MD players in a similar position throw the ball into the back-court. This could have been used here.

7) Howard picked up 2 fouls in the first 3+ minutes of the 2nd half, forcing him to the bench. The 2nd foul came on a charge.

8) FSU was 20 of 23 from the foul line, while MD was just 17 of 27.

9) It was pretty obvious that Mosley was hobbling around on his ankle in the 2nd half. Limited bodies or not, he needed to be out of the game if he could barely move.

10) When the Seminoles had early success on the offensive glass, Len found himself on the bench for most of the 1st half. He started the 2nd half, but was clearly having trouble with the strength and speed of FSU. Rebounds that Len was ripping away cleanly against Albany, Samford, Cornell – were getting ripped out of his hands by the Seminoles.

11) Weijs had some good minutes tonight, but he was also often overpowered, and just threw the ball away with under a minute left in the 1st half.

The Ugly:

1) After taking the 42-40 lead at the 17:18 mark, MD allowed a 21-3 run to fall behind 61-45 with about 12 and 1/2 minutes remaining.

2) Stoglin had his 27 points, but the next highest Terrapins scorer (Faust) had just 10. Good for Faust for looking for his shot in the 2nd half, but Stoglin needs other scoring to emerge.

3) Padgett, Pankey, Len, and Weijs combined for just 6 rebounds. MD can deal without these bigs scoring, but they will not beat a quality team when these guys do not get boards.

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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