After a lackluster effort against the Temple Owls, Maryland was able to bounce back in a strong way and defeat North Carolina-Greensboro 99-56 in a tune up before their ACC opener against Boston College this weekend. With the win at Comcast Center, it was their 15th straight in the building. Jordan Williams had 23 points and 13 boards and Terrell Stoglin poured in 18 to help lead the Terps. For Williams, it was his fourth straight double-double and his eighth of the season. The Spartans did not have an answer for him and Maryland took advantage throughout. Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker, the Terps seniors, bounced back after having a rough stretch of games. Tucker finished with 13 points but the thing that stood out was that he took it strong to the paint and it helped to set up his outside shot. As for Bowie, he added 16 points and had the play of the night in my opinion with a block from behind on a break with 15:35 left in the game. The play was a microcosm of the team in terms of their effort, focus and energy that they played with throughout the night.

Maryland’s first ten points were all in the paint and all set up by beautiful passing. Maryland (7-3) had their lead cut to 27-21 but Maryland proceeded to go on a 12-0 run and was up at the half 49-31. Maryland continued with the strong effort going on a 7-0 run to truly eliminate any ideas the Spartans had of getting back into the game. The stat that stood out to me was that Maryland had 35 field goals and 24 assists meaning there was good ball movement and sharing of the basketball.
Although the Spartans were winless at 0-8, I am glad Maryland did not lapse and allow them to stay in the game. The time in practice helped focus the team and the seniors took a leadership role in that. “These past two days of practice, the upperclassmen really stepped up. They really showed their leadership,” said Jordan Williams. With the development of the freshmen like Pe’Shon Howard and Stoglin, Gary Williams also realizes the value of his seniors. “I really believe in them. They’ve been loyal four-year players. With the ACC starting on Sunday, it’s really important they play well because they have the most experience on the team. They’ve been through it before.”