Terps Freshman Pe’Shon Howard hit a shot with seconds left to prevent Maryland from being upset by the Charleston Cougars.

Charleston is Coached by former ACC Coach Bobby Cremins who is a personal friend of Coach Gary Williams. Cremins believes he has 9 players capable of starting for him, and many members of the media have picked his squad as a possible Southern Conference Champion.

The reality is you can know that, and also know that Charleston beat North Carolina last year; and still know that if Howard does not hit the game winner that the feeling from tonight is much different. Teams grow from their experiences (both good and bad) and this was certainly a game the Terrapins can learn from.

The Good:

1) Howard hitting that last-second shot will rightfully get lots of attention. What will get less attention is that Howard was willing to take (and able to create) that less second shot. Two nights after delivering 8 assists in his college debut, Howard provided 14 big points.

2) Jordan Williams scored a career high (26) and added 15 boards. The guy is an absolute monster.

3) 18 turnovers is still too many overall, but it was a considerable improvement over Monday.

4) It was a better game for Bowie. He finished with 9 points , 3 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal. This is the effort Maryland will need from him regularly.

5) Tucker finished with 15 points, and I really liked seeing him willing to take 15 shots.

6) Stoglin did not get the playing time he got Monday, nor provide that scoring. What he did do was contribute 3 steals in just 8 minutes of action.

7) Palsson took just 1 shot during his 10 minutes, but brought some intensity to the court.

8) Maryland held Charleston without a FG over the last 8+ minutes of the game.

The Bad:

1) Maryland was out-rebounded by Charleston 35-31. With the size, and athletic advantages of the Terps that was unacceptable.

2) The Terps had 8 shots blocked by the Cougars.

3) Charleston’s Andrew Goudelock was the Southern Conference Pre-Season Player of the Year. He is known for his shooting beind the arc. Mosley and others played a lot of help defense, leaving Goudelock open for too many shots.

4) Seven combined minutes for Padgett, and Weijs and just 1 rebound. I was hoping Maryland would have had better success exploiting their size advantage off the bench.

5) Gregory got 26 minutes tonight, and did not score. You can live with him being held scoreless, but 4 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block is not enough production for that level of playing time.

The Ugly:

1) Maryland wins this game comfortably if they do not shoot an abysmal 5 of 18 from the foul-line. You have to work hard to shoot that bad. The main culprits? Williams was just 2 for 8 from the charity-stripe, and Howard was 1 for 5.

2) During Mosley’s first two seasons as a Terrapin, there were times he could disappear as a scoring option. This was somewhat understandable as he was not the first or second or maybe even the third option on those teams. On this team, Mosley clearly has to be option 1A behind Williams. It is simply unacceptable for Mosley to be on the court for 29 minutes, and hoist-up just 5 FG attempts. He has to be selfish every-game about getting his attempts. If he is not hitting his jumper, or getting to the rim; he needs to force his way to the line. He has to score for this team.

Up-Next:

The Terps will face the Black Bears of Maine on Sunday afternoon. Maine is the projected Conference Champion of the America East (same conference as UMBC). This will be the last game for Maryland prior to heading to Madison Square Garden and facing Pittsburgh, and either Illinois or Texas.

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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