Terps lose to Kentucky; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland Terrapins started their 2012-13 season, showing their improved depth and athleticism against the defending National Champion Kentucky Wildcats. Trailing by 13 at half-time, and 15 points early in the 2nd half; the Terps rallied back to take the lead. Ultimately Maryland was not able to pull the upset, losing 72-69.

While the Terps had an ugly night shooting (34% from the floor), they crushed the Wildcats on the boards (45-32), earning numerous more shots (74 to 55) from the floor than Kentucky. Doing that against a team with the size and capability of the Wildcats, bodes extremely well for Maryland going forward the rest of this year.

The Good:

1) Padgett hit his first 2 foul shots. A Padgett dunk made it a 13 point game, with under 5 minutes left in the 1st half. With the Terps down 15, Padgett had two important FT’s early in the 2nd half. Two more FT’s made it a 9 point game with 15:30 left in the game.

2) Maryland went up 5-4, with Len scoring on a spin move in the interior. After 7 missed FG’s to start the game, this was the first FG for the Terps. On the next time down the court, Len attacked the basket again, he got Noel to pick up a foul. With 15 minutes left in the 1st, the Terps went up 9-7, as Len slammed home a basket, after beating his man down the floor. Len got the Terps back with 10, on a turn around jumper to make it a 26-16 game. He came up with a board on a Faust miss from 3 to extend the possession, before making that jumper. At the other end of the court, he blocked Poythress. Len’s 4th FG came on a finger roll at the basket. On a pick-and-roll, Len buried a deep 20 footer late in the 1st half. On the next time down, he went up and under for 2 more. Len flashed across the lane, scoring a layup with a little over 14 minutes left in the 2nd half, making it a 5 point game (53-48). Noel picked up his 3rd foul with 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half, when he could not handle Len’s first step. Len came up with a needed block, with MD down 4 (57-53). Len took advantage of Noel, showing better hands than he had last year, coming up with a dunk for a 61-60 MD lead with about 6 minutes left. Crucial blocks from Len with under a minute left. After missing a foul shot with 10 seconds left, he followed his own miss with a layup. Len had 23 points, with 13 boards, and 4 blocks.

3) Down 14-9, Faust was aggressive about going to the basket, good to see after missing his first 3 FG attempts, all form deep. He earned a trip to the line, and hit both attempts. Also good to see after making just 1 of 3, earlier in the game. Faust scored on a nice back door cut, pulling the Terps back within 8 at 26-18. Faust had a nice runner off the glass to make it a 10 point game at 42-32 Wildcats. Howard scored in transition early in the 2nd half, using his athleticism. Faust had 11 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals.

4) With the Terps down 16-11, Wells beat his man off the dribble, and got fouled. With Kentucky continuing to lead at 19-12, Wells got to the rim again, and was again fouled. He hit both attempts pulling MD back within 5 with 11 minutes left in the half. Coming out of a timeout, MD was trailing 31-20 with about 7 minutes left in the half. Wells went baseline with a nice layup, for his first FG. Wells made it a 11 point game (53-42) with a layup against the trees early in the 2nd. With about 15 minutes left in the 2nd half, Wells had a great hustle play to keep the ball for the Terps. Down 3 with under a minute left, Wells exploded in transition and got to the line. Wells had 8 points, 4 assists, and 4 boards.

5) The Terps were not able to cash-in on it, but Mitchell gained MD some additional shots, battling on the boards with MD down 21-14. Mitchell had 5 boards in the 1st half off the bench. Mitchell gave MD the 63-62 lead, using his wide body for a follow-up 2. Great offensive board with 4:30 left in the game. Mitchell had a great tip in with around 2 minutes left, to pull the Terps within 3 at 68-65. Mitchell finished with 10 boards.

6) Howard found Faust on a nice back door cut, in the middle of the 1st half. Howard had a beautiful tear drop layup, making it a 7 point game (53-46). In a 2 man game, Howard had a nice dump off to Padgett which should have been finished with about 7 minutes left in the game. Howard had 4 points, 4 assists.

7) As Vitale said, great drive and dish for Allen with under 4 minutes left in the 1st half, finding Len for the slam. Allen broke all sorts of ankles from the top of the key, to beat his man off the dribble. Allen stepped into a shot, with a lot of confidence in the middle of the 2nd half; burying a 3 to make it a 1 point game (57-56). He came right down and buried another shot, with great form. That put the Terps up 59-57 with 8 minutes left in the game. Allen had 6 points, 5 assists, 3 boards.

8) Maryland won on the boards in the 1st half, 16-11, and just dominated on the glass in the 2nd half. The Terrapins were playing a long, and athletic Wildcats team; but controlled the action earning numerous additional shots.

9) Despite shooting horribly, MD continued to battle. Every-time it looked like Kentucky might pull away, the Terps found a way to keep within striking distance. That effort was best shown through the 2nd and 3rd shots they got by going after the ball on missed shots. As the Kentucky lead was reduced, the defensive intensity just continued to increase from Maryland.

10) Layman had a nice hustle defensive play in the middle of the 2nd half. With about 12 minutes left in the 2nd half, he hit a 3, making it a 2 point game (53-51). Maryland had been 0 for 14 from outside.

11) Cleare had his first basket, with a big slam in transition, capping the Terps 15-0 2nd half run to tie the game.

12) Maryland had a good night from the foul line, hitting 16 of their 21 attempts.

The Bad:

1) Noel went up and over Len to start the game for Kentucky. Len had an opportunity for a follow-up basket on Maryland’s first series, but could not score from close in. Len’s 2nd attempt was a jumper from 10 feet that missed badly.

2) Howard was rejected early, attempting a floater in the lane. Howard was 0 for 3 from the floor in the 1st half, missing both of his 3 point attempts. Down 15 in the 1st minute of the 2nd half, Howard was blocked again. At the 15:30 minute mark, Howard missed an open 15 footer. That is a shot MD needs him to make consistently. Maryland was down 65-63 when Howard was not able to secure an in-bounds pass, and Kentucky got a cheap layup. The last play of the game was poor.

3) Fouled on a 3 point attempt, Faust would make just 1 of the 3 shots from the charity stripe. Faust would have an open look from 3 minutes later, and miss everything. With 15:37 left in the 1st half, Faust hoisted his 3rd 3 point attempt, and against badly missed. Worse than the miss was the shot selection. After the previous two misses, you would have liked to have seen him attempt something closer. With Kentucky up 23-14, Faust attempted a hard slam, but was blocked at the rim on a basket MD needed. Faust missed his 4th 3 point attempt of the game, with 9 minutes left in the 1st half. A 5th missed 3 would come minutes later. Faust was just 4 of 15 from the floor, 0 for 5 from 3. His poor shooting night cost the Terps.

4) Layman picked up 2 early fouls, including an offensive foul with 14:30 left in the 1st half. After the 2nd foul, he forced a 3 point attempt that was off the mark.

5) Mitchell hit several jumpers in the exhibition last Friday, but missed his first attempt tonight from 12 feet. You would prefer to see him use his bulk inside.

6) Maryland went down 12-9, when Aronhalt lost the ball on a turnover, and Kentucky raced down the floor. Coming back down the floor, Aronhalt was charged with an offensive foul. Trailing by 15, Aronhalt missed an open 3. Aronhalt was a complete non-factor tonight.

7) The Terps fell behind 19-12, with just under 12 minutes left in the 1st half, when Julius Mays hit a 3 pointer, with his Maryland defender falling down.

8) Down 37-22, Allen forced a 3 point shot (which was missed) early in a possession. He had three 3 point attempts in the 1st, and missed them all.

9) Maryland went to the half with 8 assists, and 6 turnovers.

10) Kentucky had 6 blocks at the half, with Cauley-Stein having 5 of them. They finished with 10.

11) Kentucky started the 2nd half, with Poythress throwing down a vicious dunk.

12) Wells had trouble with his shot in the 1st half, and missed a chippy early in the 2nd. With about 4 minutes left, he picked up a charge. After exploding down the court in transition and getting to the line with less than a minute left in the game, Wells made just 1 of his 2 foul attempts.

13) With about 7 minutes left in the game, Padgett received a great pass inside from Howard, but was unable to finish. He made the play worse, by picking up a cheap foul.

14) Down 67-63, Maryland had their 2nd turnover in 15 seconds, giving the ball back to Kentucky. With 2:40 left, the Terps had another turnover without a shot attempt.

15) I think Maryland needed to find more attempts for Len in the 2nd half.

The Ugly:

1) Maryland missed their initial 7 FG attempts to start the game, and was just 13 of 42 in the 1st half, missing all 11 of their 3 point attempts. For the game, MD was 25 of 74 from the floor, including 3 of 19 from 3.

2) The Terps went down 42-28, when Kentucky’s Wiltjer hit a 3 pointer out of a time out. Maryland did not get out on the shooter. At the 1 minute mark, Goodwin hit a 3, again moving Kentucky up 13. Overall, the Wildcats were 5 of 7 from 3 point land in the 1st half. You understand MD wanted to guard the paint, but as the lead increased, Maryland needed to put a hand up on the Kentucky shooters.

3) The Terrapins bench was outscored 17-0 in the 1st half.