Thoughts From Maryland’s Loss to Oregon State

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Well, the Terps lost at home on Sunday night to the Oregon State Beavers (2-1) in front of a large crowd which included President Barack Obama and the first family.

Maryland (1-2) had their 30-game non-conference streak at home snapped to a team they were playing for the first time in school history.

The Terps’ toughness is being questioned by many after there seemed to be a lack of blocking out which led to missed opportunities. Here is Coach Turgeon’s statement following the game.

"“I thought Oregon State was terrific. That’s all we talked about in the scouting report; those two kids and trying to guard those kids [Roberto Nelson and Devon Collier]. Obviously we didn’t do a very good job. Nelson kept getting to the rim and then Collier was just a beast. We had no answer for him. I know I’m going to watch the film and see we missed a lot of box outs. We weren’t very physical. The way we started the game and the second half, I think we gave Oregon State a lot of confidence. I’m just disappointed. I rely on us being good defensively. Almost all my teams can guard, and this one just isn’t doing a very good job of it. I’ve got to build depth and our guys have got to play better. With that said, Oregon State was terrific. I felt like they never missed a shot … Maybe our defense will get better if I build depth. Our big guys have got to play better defensively.”"

This game probably opened up the eyes of Maryland’s big guys and helped them to understand that Alex Len is no longer grabbing all the rebounds. The guys down low are not 7 feet tall, but they are big and they must learn to position themselves and box out.

Starter Shaquille Cleare had 2 points and 3 total rebounds. That’s not going to cut it. Unless Shaq starts to improve, I believe that Charles Mitchell should become the starter. Mitchell wants to make plays and he can finish down low. Maryland needs someone they can count on to feed the ball inside.

The talent is there for the Terps but they must continue to work hard to reach their potential. This game will be one the NCAA tournament selection committee will look back to. Hopefully Maryland learns from this game and corrects their mistakes.

Maryland takes their game to the Virgin Islands this weekend which should give them a chance to correct things and get a few feel-good wins under their belt. They play Marist on Friday at 4PM on the CBS Sports Network.

Go Terps!