Maryland Terrapins Chop the Florida State Seminoles
By Cory Forsyth
Terps Improve to 6-5 in ACC Play
Maryland needed to make a statement Saturday night against the Florida State Seminoles (14-9, 5-6 ACC).
The Terps sat at 5-5 in conference play and were coming off of a disappointing loss to North Carolina on the road.
Knowing what the ‘Noles did when Maryland traveled south in early January, the Terps set out to avenge their 24-point defeat in front of a great crowd at Comcast.
And avenge the loss they did.
The Maryland Terrapins (14-10, 6-5 ACC) played at a high level all night with sophomore guard Seth Allen leading the way with a career night.
Allen scored 21 of his career-high 32 points in a dominant first half which helped the Terrapins prevail over the Seminoles, 83-71.
"“That was obviously a really good win for us,” said head coach Mark Turgeon. “We played really well. We finished the first half well, and built that lead and maintained it in the second half.”"
There was no let down from the Terps who went into halftime with a 17-point lead.
It was all Maryland all night led by the star performance from Allen. Dez Wells and Jake Layman joined in the fun with 15 and 12 points respectively.
The win was much-needed and gives the Terps a boost heading into a very tough and opportunistic close to the regular season.
With that said, have we now found the superstar Maryland has been waiting for?
Is Seth Allen the next Greivis Vasquez, Juan Dixon or Steve “Franchise” Francis?
In only 12 games this season, Allen is averaging 12.3 points, 3.4 assists and is hitting 41 percent of his three-point attempts. The one area he needs to shore up is at the free-throw line.
Those shots are freebies. And for being such a great scorer, averaging 69 percent isn’t going to cut it.
Allen seems to almost be 100 percent game ready. His legs seem to be under him and his defense is getting better.
Mark Turgeon seems to think Allen is pretty much 100 percent and gave him a lot of praise for yesterday’s performance.
"“I think in his shooting he took it to a different level. He’s getting closer. He’s making shots and he guards better; that helps. I thought our transition defense was good. That was a pretty high level. There were a couple of times in the second half where he just made some incredible shots when we weren’t really doing that well. We were just hanging in there and then he would raise up and hit two really tough threes.”"
Allen is averaging double figures in his last three games including FSU. If the Terps want to get some quality wins against their upcoming opponents, Allen must continue to be a scorer. His high level of play lets this team play to their potential.
Check out highlights from Saturday’s game below…
Maryland will look to pick up another win tomorrow night at #20 Virginia. Tip-off is at 9PM and can be seen on ESPNU or WatchESPN.
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