The Terps began play in the Maui Invitational last night with a strong performance against Chaminade. Strong defense and clutch shooting by Sean Mosley brought Maryland an easy 79 – 51 win. Tonight, Maryland plays a good Cincinnati team that bulled their way to a win over Vanderbuilt last night.
Maryland is beginning to hit a little bit of a stride here. Last night, the Terps were strong on defense and had a good performance from one of their freshmen, Jordan Williams. Williams was tough inside with 9 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks. Last year, teams had their way with the Terps getting inside for easy baskets, but this year things are definitely different. Williams made his presence known early with a block on Shane Hanson and made the Silverswords think twice about driving into the lane. Chaminade did keep it close in the first half, but Maryland eventually pulled away in the second half. Maryland rebounded the ball well with the help of Williams, Padgett and Mosley, all of which had 8 or more rebounds.
The Terps are getting contributions from unusual sources this year offensively. Mosley had another career high in points with 19 and Hayes has been scoring as well. Greivis has been quiet so far this year, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that, he’ll get his scoring rolling soon enough. If Mosley continues with what he is doing, Maryland will have four legitimate scorers to compliment their big men inside. Mosley, Greivis, Milbourne and Hayes to go with Williams and Padgett will give Maryland a toughness we haven’t seen since the Dixon, Baxter and Blake days.
Maryland moves on to Cincy tonight in what will be a good test for the Terps. Cincy plays great defense and Maryland may have to grind this one out. They’ll need to attack the basket and get to the line for free points and hopefully they’ll come out on top.
