BSL: MD's comeback falls short at BB&T; What did we see?
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Maryland was down 66-54 with 6:09 left today, when Dez Wells fouled out. MD would go on a run to tie the game at 73 with 1:07 left. GW would get the win, when Maurice Creek hit the game winner with under a second left.
With the 77-75 loss, the Terrapins fall to 5-4 on the year.
What did we see?
1) Can MD get to the tournament without winning today? Sure. Picked to finish 7th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the preseason, they'd have to match that at the minimum, and have multiple significant wins. That is going to be made harder by the fact that due to MD's schedule, there are less opportunities for marquee wins.
Or they would have to do significant damage in the ACCT.
You expected MD to lose to UConn (slight underdog, but still expected to lose.) You expected MD to lose at Ohio State. You did not expect MD to lose to Oregon State. Going into the year, you did not expect MD to lose today vs. GW.
With the loss today, MD’s only OOC wins of any note will be Northern Iowa, and Providence (and hopefully Tulsa, and Boston University). That resume does very little for MD, leaving MD’s chances almost solely to their results in conference play.
MD will play 18 conference games. There is probably a 95% chance that they win 7 to 10 games. At 7 or 8 wins, they will be on the wrong side of the bubble going into the ACCT. 9 will have them roughly on it, or the last 4 out. At 10 wins, they’d probably be in.
This was clearly a very important game for the Terps. Credit MD for fighting back, but not breaking through with the W, could very easily come back to hurt later.
2) Maryland was down 41-29 at the half. In the first 20 minutes, GW shot 42% from the floor; while holding MD to just 30%. For the game, GW shot 44%, and MD was limited to 39%. MD was just 5 of 19 from 3. The battle on the boards was roughly even (GW with the 38-36 edge). GW had 19 turnovers, while MD had 18.
3) Varun Ram started for MD today, which is a compliment to Ram’s play – and something which was unfathomable just a few weeks ago. In the 1st half, the only thing on his stat line was 1 turnover, and 2 fouls. Despite the start, Peters replaced him less than 90 seconds into the game. Down 12 (66-54) Ram badly missed an open 3. The next time down the court, he hit a 3 while being fouled. He did not make his FT though. With the FT miss, MD was down 11 (68-57) with 5 minutes left.
4) After a horrible game at Ohio State, Layman had MD’s first basket today. However, that was his only score of the 1st half. As we talked about Wednesday, Maryland’s offense is just unbelievably limited when Layman is not scoring. A Layman 3 made it 48-40 with 15:50 left. Using a nice shot-fake, Layman drove to the basket and scored through contact. With a made FT, MD closed to within 9 (54-45). At the 10 minute mark, another drive resulted in a turnover. Coming off an open screen, Layman missed an open 3 with 8 minutes left. Nice defensive play from Layman with 4:10 left. Layman followed a miss from Smotrycz to make it 70-67 with 3:20 left. Another layup from Layman made it a 2 point game with 1:50 left. Layman finished with 13 points, and 6 boards.
5) Smotrycz had 3 1st half turnovers for MD. On the positive side, he did have 7 points and 4 boards. In the 2nd half, Smotrycz was doing a good job of not only helping on the boards, but looking to start breaks by finding teammates with nice outlet passes down the court. Down 5 (68-63), Smotrycz missed an open 3. Two FT’s from Smotrycz again made it a 5 point game with 3:40 left. Smotrycz finished with 11 points, and 6 boards. He was just 2 of 9 from the floor.
6) Wells led MD in FG attempts in the 1st half (7), and was tied with Smotrycz in the scoring high at 7. His first basket came on a drive to the basket, finishing at the rim. Running the court like a freight-train, Wells pulled MD to within 11 (45-34) with 17 mts left in the 2nd half. With MD down 12, Wells missed a layup in transition. Taking a nice pass from Smotrycz, Wells again bullied his way to basket. This time he would score to make it 54-47. A steal at the top of the key, led to a breakaway dunk. This made it 58-50 GW with 9:30 left. Wells would foul out of the game with 6:09 left. Wells finished with 16 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
7) As mentioned above, Peters did enter the game early on. Still looking for him to assert himself as MD’s best option at the point. You want to see him be able to facilitate for his teammates. In the 1st half, he has just 1 assist. What he does best at this point is driving to the rim. Fantastic drive from Peters with 14+ minutes left, pulling MD within 8 (50-42). After a good defensive play from Layman, Peters got 3 points the old-fashioned way. This made it 68-63 with 4:06 left. Nice steal and finish from Peters with 3 minutes left to make it a 2 point game. 2 FT’s from Peters tied the game at 75 with 20 seconds left. Peters finished with 11 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
8) Faust came off the bench, and immediately launched a 3 (which was missed). At some point he has to realize why he is given so many open 3′s. Great reverse from Faust with 6:30 left. With MD down 11, Faust hit an open 3 (there was no GW defender within 10 feet). This made it 68-60 GW with 4:16 left. He took (and missed) another open 3 with 3 minutes left. Unbelievably athletic defensive play with 2 minutes left from Faust. Great hustle as well. This got MD the ball back down 4. Faust had 7 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. His defense made a difference down the stretch.
9) The more we see of Dodd, the more we like. While raw, he has really good size and athleticism. He has to continue to play.
10) Graham saw a fair amount of time today. A move that shows Coach Turgeon is searching for answers. Losing his balance on a jam attempt, Graham was still able to finish and convert at the line for a 3 point play. With 13:13 left, Graham was called for a moving screen. With his most playing time this year, Graham had 5 points, 5 boards, and 3 blocks.
11) Cleare did a good job of getting to the line early in the 2nd half. With 10:26 left, he fought hard to retain possession for MD. There simply has to be more production from him, to justify the minutes he is receiving though. Cleare 3 points, and 3 boards.
12) Down 48-40, MD came out of a timeout, and got Mitchell the ball in the post. Mitchell had great position, but after a good spin, was not able to finish. Mitchell followed a Smotrycz miss to tie the game at 73. Going to the floor, Mitchell was called for a fould with 29 seconds left. This sent GW to the line for the lead. Mitchell had 6 points, and 6 boards.
13) With under 8 minutes left, Coach Turgeon was called for a technical. Clearly Turgeon had been irritated for sometime, with TV Analyst John Feinstein mentioning several minutes before that Turgeon had to watch himself. It was understandable that Turgeon was irritated by the call, but the technical did not help MD’s ability to win. Creek made his 2 Technical FT’s, and made his 2 regular FT’s for a 14 point GW lead.
14) Down 14 points, and with Wells fouled out; MD went on a nice run to get back into the game. 3 point plays from Ram, Faust, and Peters gave the Terps a chance down the stretch. MD’s defensive pressure over the last several minutes was immense. If they played at that level every game, all game; they would be a force.
15) MD was 20 of 26 at the foul line today. Good job getting to the line, and converting once there.
