UMD rolls Northwestern; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland used an impressive 2nd half, to defeat Northwestern 77-57 in Evanston, Illinois during the ACC / Big Ten Challenge. The Wildcats represented a step-up in competition vs. what the Terrapins had seen the previous four games; but Maryland’s advantages in interior strength, depth, and athleticism proved to be too much Northwestern.

This Maryland team has the look of a team that can do real damage this year.

The Good:

1) Maryland’s first points came on a nice pass from Len to Wells on a back-door screen. Len followed his own miss with a good tap for a 19-18 MD lead. The next time down the court, he knocked down a 17 foot jumper. Beautiful post move in the initial minutes of the 2nd half. That was followed by a vicious dunk off the baseline, a block on Olah, and another basket inside (where he was fouled). Was just the Alex Len show as he took over the game. He threw an attempted shot from Crawford, deep into the stands. Len finished with 13 points, 13 boards, and 2 blocks.

2) Wells scored his 2nd early basket off a finger roll. Good job from Wells driving the lane, and find Cleare for a basket. Going coast-to-coast, Wells pulled MD within 1 at 15-14. Penetrating from the perimeter, Wells scored again, putting MD up 5 at 23-18. Great anticipation from Wells on a steal on an attempted back-door cut. Knocking down a 3, MD went up 11 at 45-34. He came right back down the court, and scored again on a layup. He went 1 on 3 on the play, and still scored. Wells showed his bounce, getting another shot off, and getting to the line. Wells had 23 points (9 for 11 from the floor), with 3 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.

3) Just under the 14 minute mark, Faust was able to get to the line, forcing contact. Faust knocked down a step back 3, capping a 9-0 run for MD. This put the Terps up 26-18. Faust finished with 10 points, and 6 boards.

4) Fouled on a dunk attempt, Cleare knocked down his first 2 FT attempts. Coming off a nice pass from Wells, Cleare scored inside, putting MD up 12-10. Unable to finish a pass from Howard to the rim, Cleare followed his own miss. Cleare had 6 points.

5) Mitchell got on the board, following a Cleare air-ball with a physical move to the basket. In the 2nd half, he went to the ground and ripped away a loose ball. He finished while be fouled in-transition. Nice touch at the rim. Mitchell had 5 points, and 4 boards.

6) Allen knocked down each his FT attempts, after being fouled on a 3 point shot with just under 10 minutes left in the 1st half. This gave MD a 17-15 lead. Good pass from Allen to Mitchell in transition. Allen finished with 3 assists.

7) Maryland dominated on the boards in the 1st half, having a commanding 23-8 edge. This continued in the 2nd half, with MD ultimately winning 42 to 15 on the glass. Just overwhelming.

8) The Terps were 9 from 9 from the line in the 1st half. MD finished 14-17 from the charity stripe.

9) After a scoreless 1st half, Padgett got on the board in the 1st minute of the 2nd half. Two minutes later, Padgett scored again, putting MD up 40-33. Getting good position, he finished with a slam for his 3rd basket. Padgett finished with 8 points and 6 boards.

10) Aronhalt put MD up 15 (53-38), knocking down a 3 against the 1-3-1 zone. With the shot clock winding down, Aronhalt salvaged another MD possession with his 2nd 3 pointer. Aronhalt’s 3rd triple against the Northwestern zone made it an 18 point game, with the Terps up 61-43.

11) Cleare was unable to finish, but Howard delivered a good pass over top the zone. Penetrating down the lane, Howard had another good look to Cleare, which was knocked out of bounds by Northwestern. Howard had a no-look pass to Wells with about 4:30 left in the game. Howard had 6 assists and 5 boards.

12) Maryland did a great job limiting the turnovers in the 2nd half.

13) The Terps made 54% of their shots overall, and were 5 of 13 from 3.

The Bad:

1) Starting the game, a pass went through Faust’s hands for a turnover. He added a 2nd turnover a minute later. Faust was not able to finish a difficult layup at the 16 minute mark of the 1st half. With just over 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Faust missed a step-back jumper from the wing. It felt like a wasted possession, where MD settled for a shot they should be able to get any time.

2) Len was charged with an early double-dribble. He also had an offensive foul, and missed a 3 point shot in the games opening minutes.Coming out of a timeout with 2:30+ left in the 1st, the best shot MD could get with several seconds left on the shot-clock was a Len 3 point attempt. In the middle of the 2nd half, he picked up 2 fouls in 14 seconds of game action.

3) Howard missed three 3 pointers early, the 2nd coming out of a timeout with 15:30 left in the 1st half. At the 5 minute mark, Howard forced a long 2 point shot (which was missed). He settled for the shot, after failing to get the ball inside. With 3:30 left, he missed another open jumper from the wing.

4) With the game tied at 8, Allen was not able to finish a layup attempt. Allen got lost on a back-door cut, allowing Northwestern to tie the game at 10. At 18-17 Northwestern, Allen chucked up a quick (and missed) 3 point attempt. As the shot clock ticked down, Allen bailed Northwestern out with a foul at the 6 minute mark. The Terps were up 12, when Allen picked up a charge on a pull-up jumper.

5) Mitchell had a turnover in the middle of the 1st half, dribbling a ball out of bounds. Despite position in the post, Mitchell had a 2nd turnover with an offensive foul. Mitchell was beat on a back-door cut from Marcotullio late in the 1st half. Mitchell had his 4th turnover, attempting to go cross court with an ill-advised pass.

6) Northwestern’s Reggie Hearn had an old-fashioned 3 point play, when Aronhalt picked up a foul, and Hearn was still able to score.

7) Too many early possessions with the ball not going into Len.

The Ugly:

1) Twice in the 1st half, MD had 4 minute gaps without a basket.

2) Maryland had 12 turnovers in the 1st 20 minutes of play.