Maryland's torturous 2013-14 season continued with a Double OT loss at Clemson. The 77-73 defeat dropped the Terrapins to 15-14 overall, and 7-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with two games remaining prior to the ACC Tournament.
What did we see?
1) This was another winnable game for the Terps, and yet another game where Maryland couldn't figure out how to win. The Terps played with effort throughout, but made just 30% (24 of 79) of their FG attempts.
1a) Maryland's last FG of the 2nd half, came on a layup from Allen with 5:03 left. With 42 seconds left in regulation, the Terps called TO. Wells missed a layup, but Faust came up with a steal giving MD another opportunity. Wells made a poor decision not pulling the ball out, and missed again. Clemson had the opportunity to win with 7 seconds left remaining in the game, but had a horrible possession of their own sending the game to the first OT.
2) Coach Turgeon elected to start Faust over Smotrycz today. We liked the decision, but we didn't get much of a chance to see how that starting lineup (Allen, Wells, Faust, Layman, Mitchell) would play together - as Faust picked up 2 fouls in the first 5 minutes of play.
2a) There were moments during the game that Faust helped with his effort (such as the aforementioned steal at the end of the 2nd half). There were also times where he had questionable decisions. Faust finished with 7 points (2 of 6 from the floor), 5 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist, and 1 turnover.
2b) Coming off the bench, Smotrycz had his best game in sometime. Smotrycz had 19 points for the game (5 of 11 from the floor, 4 of 7 from 3) and 6 boards. I still think his minutes should be limited due to his defensive limitations, but when he is making shots, he does have some value. With MD down 3, Smotrycz tied the game with his fourth 3 and 9 seconds left in the 1st OT. While today was one of his better Conference games, he was just 6 of 9 from the line. Each of those misses coming in the 2nd half and the first OT.
3) At the half, MD was 11 for 11 from the foul line. In the 2nd half, MD had just 2 attempts. For the game, the Terps finished 16 of 21 overall, meaning they went 5 of 10 in the 2nd half and both OT's.
4) There have been times this year that we have complained that Layman has to be more aggressive about looking for his shot. That was not not an issue today, as Layman had 14 attempts. The issue today was that Layman made just 1 of those 14 shots (he finished 1 of 9 from 3). He also missed the front-end of a 1&1 with 33 seconds left in the 2nd OT.
5) The Terps had a 26-20 edge on the boards in the 1st half. For the game, MD decisively won on the boards 63 to 47.
6) Wells hit all 5 of his FT attempts in the 1st half, but only had 2 FG attempts. It continues to puzzle me as to why such long stretches can go by with Wells basically uninvolved with the offense. In the middle of the 2nd half, Wells hit from 3. With 8 minutes left, he had a nice jumper from the baseline. That was followed by a pull-up jumper from the foul line. He had two very important blocks with 5 minutes left. The second block leading to a run out, and MD finish. After making those 3 shots from the 13:21 mark of the 2nd half to the 7:19 mark of the 2nd half; Wells next attempt from the floor would come with 1:23 left. That was followed by the previously mentioned poor decision making in the last 18 seconds of the 2nd half. For the game, Wells finished with 16 points (5 of 16 from the floor), 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He was 1 of 5 from 3. He did not get back to the foul line in the 2nd half, or OT.
7) Mitchell had a nice 1st half, with 6 points (3 of 6 from the floor, all follows) and 8 boards. The Sophomore finished with those 6 points, and 15 boards.
8) Maryland had just 6 turnovers in the 1st half. Even with an extra 10 minutes of play, the Terps had a very livable 12 turnovers for the game.
9) 13 of the Terrapins 32 FG attempts (40%) in the 1st half were from 3. The Terps were just 3 of 13 (23%) from beyond the arc as the 2nd half began. For the game, MD was 9 of 32 (28%) from 3.
10) Allen was 2 of 7 from the floor, including 1 of 4 from 3 in the 1st half. Allen led MD in scoring, with 20 points. He made 8 of his 19 attempts (2 of 8 from 3). He also had 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and 3 turnovers.
11) Graham, Dodd, Cleare, and Peters combined for 2 points (0 of 4 from the floor), 8 boards, 3 assists, and 1 block.
