Bob Haynie: Terps Earn A Nice ACC Victory
As we have discussed many times, this year's Maryland men's basketball team is a work in progress. Nothing is going to come easy for coach Mark Turgeon's crew. Especially in the ACC.
On Wednesday night, what looked like an easy win turned into a nail-biter as the Terps held on to beat Wake Forest 70-64 at the Comcast Center.
Maryland watched an 18-point lead get cut to four in the second half. But, to their credit, they regrouped to stop the Demon Deacons for the first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the Turgeon era.
Terrell Stoglin scored 20 off the bench to pace the Terps in that category. However, Stoglin, like a few other of his teammates , continues to struggle on defense. As Turgeon has said, Maryland needs to do a better job of getting back on "D". The guards also have to become more adept at stopping dribble penetration.
What Maryland does do well is hit the offensive glass. Which is nice because it's shooting at times is , well , offensive.
Freshman guard Nick Faust is a main culprit. The youngster from Baltimore is bricking-it-up to the tune of .306 percent from the field. Fortunately, he has plenty of time to improve.
Just like the team.
The Terps host Georgia Tech on January 15th. Then it's off to Florida State and Temple.
We'll start finding out what this squad is made of in the coming weeks.
As for now, 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC isn't that bad.
BH
