Maryland Terrapins Sting Georgia Tech in Final ACC Home Opener
By Cory Forsyth
Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Terps Beat the Yellow Jackets 77-61
It was Maryland’s last ACC home-opener and the start of a “New Season” for the Terps.
From beginning to end, Maryland (10-5, 2-0 ACC) dominated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-5, 0-1 ACC) and made us all think, “This is what I expected all season.”
Coach Turgeon had the same thought.
Turgeon: "I think everybody in the building was like, 'OK, this is what we expected all year from Maryland.' "
— Jeff Barker (@sunjeffbarker) January 4, 2014
www.umterps.com
I saw a different Maryland Terrapins team in this game. Maybe it’s the whole “new season” mentality or maybe it’s the return of Seth Allen. Whatever the cause is for the Terps renewed sense of confidence when they play, let’s hope it continues to work.
The Terrapins confidence continues to grow and it has infected the entire team. Turnovers were a key in every Maryland loss this year and with the poor point guard play early, it was an obstacle that seemed to make a lot of games closer than they needed to be.
Against Georgia Tech, the Terps only turned the ball over six times and played great team basketball by dishing out 16 assists to help four players score in double digits.
Nick Faust scored 16 to lead all scorers while Evan Smotrycz contributed 14 points, Dez Wells added 11 and Charles Mitchell collected 11 rebounds for the Terrapins.
All in all, Maryland played far better than most people thought they were going to. That’s a good thing.
For Maryland, every game in the ACC is important and they must come ready to play every night, especially at home. To reach the promised land of the NCAA tournament, Maryland must take care of business at home from here on out.
This team has a lot of talent as seen by the rim-rattling dunk by Dez Wells and the 3-point clinic put on by a whole pack of Terps. Maryland shot 52.6% from downtown and 46.7% overall from the floor. If Maryland can put up numbers like that and continue getting better on defense, the sky is the limit for this team.
Their renewed play will be tested tomorrow night on the road against new ACC member Pitt (13-1, 1-0). The Panthers’ only loss came against Cincinnati in a very low-scoring contest. Can Maryland pull out an important road win? Comment and share your thoughts on how you think Maryland will fare here on out.