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Maryland Beats Georgia Southern 70-53

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Maryland freshman Charles Mitchell had no desire to get another critical movie review from coach Mark Turgeon.

Eager to bounce back from a performance that was not particularly well received, Mitchell had 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Terrapins past Georgia Southern 70-53 Saturday night.

Mitchell, a 6-foot-8 forward, made 6 of 12 shots in his first career double-double. It was a stark contrast to his outing against Lafayette four nights earlier.

"That last game he wasn't very good," Turgeon said. "It wasn't a very fun film session for Charles and he responded the right way. He had real good practices since that film session and it carried over to the game."

Mitchell smiled sheepishly when asked about Turgeon's review of the Lafayette game.

"I think every mistake in film session was me. It was terrible," Mitchell said. "I thought I did well, but I got chewed out so bad. It was constructive criticism, but the next few practices I was really focused, just to show him I could change. And that's what happened."

Logan Aronhalt scored 12 and Nick Faust added 11 for the Terrapins (4-1), who have won four straight at home following a narrow loss to Kentucky in the Barclays Center Classic.

Maryland fell behind by eight in the opening minutes and led by only 29-26 at halftime.

"That wasn't a lot of fun, especially in the first half," Turgeon said. "We obviously weren't ready to play, physically and mentally. Logan hit some shots. I thought Charles Mitchell was the only other player to give us something in the first half."

Mitchell was even better after halftime, scoring six points in a 17-4 spurt that enabled the Terrapins to pull away.

"He was doing all the little things," Aronhalt said.

Aronhalt opened with a 3-pointer and Mitchell made Maryland's next three baskets -- a follow of his own miss, a dunk and another follow. Alex Len then scored off an alley-oop pass, Faust connected from beyond the arc and Len concluded the run with a three-point play to make it 46-30 with 14:42 remaining.

"I think they were just trying to keep the game close," Turgeon said. "It wasn't a fun game to be a part of, but in the end our guys won. We played a pretty good second half."

The Terrapins made 17 of 29 shots from the floor after halftime. Maryland's bench contributed 37 points and the Terps finished with a 49-25 rebounding advantage.

"Their size wore us down," Eagles coach Charlton Young said.

C.J. Reed scored 15 for Georgia Southern and Eric Ferguson had 13. The Eagles, of the Southern Conference, were coming off their first non-league road victory since December 2006, a 62-46 decision over Kennesaw State.

"I know people at Maryland don't know a lot about the Southern Conference, but we're from a very respected league," Young said. "...We can play on this level. So we have to get to the point where we can come in and steal a game like this."

In the first half, the Terrapins went 10 for 26 from the field and committed 10 turnovers.

Maryland missed its first five shots, and after Tre Bussey's second 3-pointer put the Eagles up 9-1, Turgeon called a timeout in an effort to re-center his team's focus.

Mitchell promptly made a layup, and provided six points in a 13-2 run that combined tight defense and precise passing on the offensive end.

But Georgia Southern bounced back. The Eagles led 19-18 before Aronhalt buried a 3 and Faust scored off an alley-oop pass from Pe'Shon Howard.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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