The University of Maryland fell to 6-3, with a 64-61 loss to Temple in the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center in D.C.

The Temple Owls, the pre-season pick to win the Atlantic 10 Conference, has spent some time this year in the Top 25. This neutral court loss for Maryland will hurt the Terps with the Selection Committee this coming March.

The Good:

1) When the Freshman came into the game in the 2nd-half, the game began to change. Down 15 points, they cut into deficit with a 10-0 run. They were scoring enough to set-up the press, and the effort was apparent.

1a) The Maryland offense looked much improved after Stoglin, and Palsson knocked down a couple of threes. Palsson impressed me early in the game as he scrapped for the ball underneath the basket against several Temple players. Stoglin finished with 16 points, and was 4-4 from the line.

1b) Howard contributed to the run with a strong physical layup. Later with 3 minutes left in the game, Howard used his physical body to score on a 4-1 where he was fouled and get to the line. Howard finished with 6 points, 6 assists, and 2 boards.

2) Padgett followed up a good game against Penn State, with another good effort tonight. He is beginning to assert himself as a valuable reserve. Padgett finished with 8 points, and 3 boards.  Padgett’s 7th and 8th points came on a beautiful touch-pass from Bowie for a monster-slam.

3) Another double-double for Jordan Williams. (17 points, 11 boards)

4) The Terps shot 16 of 28 from the field in the 2nd-half.

The Bad:

1) Yet again, Maryland started slow falling behind 21-10. With 7:27 left in the first-half, Maryland had made just 5 of 18 shots, and turned the ball over 5 times.

1a) The MD scoring did not improve much during the rest of the 1st-half, with the Terps finishing 8 for 28 (28.6%) from the floor.

2) Less than 3 minutes into the 2nd-half, Coach Williams replaced the Senior starters because was unhappy with the effort and intensity he was seeing. While the move obviously worked, it is a disappointment that it had to be made.

3) For the 2nd straight game the Terps ended the half with the ball in Stoglin’s hands and they did not run their offense. I’m guessing Coach Williams has given the ball to Stoglin there because he thinks the Freshman has the best ability to create his own shot, or get to the line. In my mind, Stoglin needs to be thinking of driving and dishing in those situations.

4) With under 3 minutes left the game, Maryland missed 4 Free Throws, including 3 misses from Jordan Williams. It is going to be similar to hack-a-Shaq until he shows an ability to hit his foul-shots with great consistency. Williams was 3 of 7 from the line, Terps were 10 of 17.

5) On hustle Dino Gregory made a nice rebound that went for naught, as he threw it back to his basket and it was picked off for two very costly points.

6) Maryland lost on the boards (39-30), and Temple stole the ball from the Terps 13 times.

7) Tucker had 4 shots (0 for 4), Bowie had 1 shot (0 for 1), and Mosley had 6 attempts (2 for 6).  I do not know how these three starters can go an entire game combining for 11 shots from the field.

The Ugly:

1) Maryland has lost 3 games on neutral-courts to quality teams. Each of the games were games the Terps could have won, but did not.  Unless the Terps pull the upset in Philadelphia against Villanova (Jan 15th), Maryland’s ability to advance to the NCAA Tournament will be based nearly entirely on what they do in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

I know in early December the Terps are not focusing on March, but the team has to be aware of their schedule. I believe if they had played with the proper intensity earlier, Maryland wins this game.  When the Terps review the game-film, I think they are going to see several players who lacked the effort needed.

Up-Next:

Maryland will beat-up on UNC Greensboro Wednesday night, and get their first taste of ACC play when they host Boston College Sunday. If Maryland beats BC, they figure to be 11-3, 1-0 when they face #1 Duke in Durham January 9th.

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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